CAPITAL: Santiago
MONETARY UNIT: Peso
REFINING CAPACITY: 204,640 b/cd
OIL PRODUCTION: 9,000 b/d
OIL RESERVES: 150 million bbl
GAS RESERVES: 3.46 tcf
ENAP, the oil fields in its sole producing area either idle or in advanced depletion stages, opened some of the fields to international operating and service companies to form partnerships with the national oil company for rejuvenation-reactivation and additional exploration in late 1999.
Everything about the new contracts would be negotiable, ENAP said.
One horizontal well had been drilled in the Magallanes (Austral) basin fields. Only two of the 21 fields had even been waterflooded-Catalina and Sombrero-and ENAP hoped an infusion of modern technology might extend their lives and turn up exploration prospects. Only one 3D seismic survey had been recorded in the area, over Calafate field.
Methanex Corp. started up its third methanol production facility during 1999, 17 miles north of Punta Arenas. The other two units started up in 1988 and 1996.
With combined 2.7 million tonnes/year nameplate capacity, they constitute the world`s largest methanol production facility. October production averaged 8,550 tonnes/day, or more than 3 million tonnes/year.
