A delegation of Guatemalan Congressmen embarked on a controversial trip to Canada, in an attempt to revive the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Canada and the isthmus countries. The Canadian business sector is eager to push forward with the agreement and is hoping that once in power, the new Guatemalan government will place the issue at the top of its agenda. According to the official version of events, the delegation was invited by the Canadian-Guatemalan Chamber of Commerce in an attempt to boost Canadian investment in Guatemala. However, a scandal erupted when the local press revealed that the Congressmen were in fact invited by Canadian financed oil corporation Quetzal Energy.
This is a translation by Louisa Reynolds of an article by Luis Solana and found on the English section of Inforpress. A fuller Spanish version is available at albedrío.org and I found a Flemish version here in Vlaamse Noord-Zuidbeweging.
FTA Back on the Agenda
The ulterior purpose of the Congressmen's trip was to revive stalled negotiations between Canada and the C4 Group (Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua) on the FTA between Canada and the isthmus.
According to Rubén Darío Morales, president of the Guatemalan Congress, the main purpose of the trip was to assuage Canadian investors' anxieties with regards to the new government and lack of progress on the FTA.
However, initial media reports were unclear as to where the invitation had come from. Whereas some newspapers reported that the delegation had been invited by the Canadian-Guatemalan Chamber of Commerce (Can-Cham-Guate), others reported that the six-day trip was organized by Canadian oil corporation Quetzal Energy. The fact that the delegation spent Q169 thousand (US$22 thousand) worth of taxpayers' money on meals also raised eyebrows.
The delegation that went to Canada included Darío Morales, his advisor Luis Rubio, Congressman Otto Zea, of the National Advancement party (PAN), president of the Congressional Commission on the Environment and Natural Resources and also member of the Congressional Commission on Energy and Mining; Congressman Luis Fernando Pérez, president of the Congressional Commission on Energy and Mining and member of the Congressional Commission on Infrastructure; and Guillermo Sosa, president of the Congressional Commission on Infrastructure and member of the Congressional Commission on Energy and Mining. The latter are members of the Guatemalan Republican Front Party (FRG).
Can-Cham-Guate, created in August 2006, mainly represents the interests of Canadian oil and mining corporations operating in Guatemala such as GoldCorp, Inc.; Montana Exploradora de Guatemala, S.A.; Nichromet Extraction Inc. (Nichromet Guatemala); Aurogin Resources and the Guatemalan Nickel Company (CGN).
Other members include Bocanueva, S.A., one of the three mining corporations owned by the International Nickel Co. (INCO) in the Northwestern department of Izabal; and the private consultancy firm Consultoría y Tecnología Ambiental, S.A. (CTA), whose legal representative, Ángel Adrián Juárez , was in charge of the National Commission on Environmental Issues (CONAMA) during the Arzú administration and has carried out environmental impact studies for many foreign mining corporations.
In mid 2007, the Guatemalan media reported that much progress had been achieved in negotiating the terms of the agreement. The last remaining obstacle was the issue of textile imports. However, the negotiations have remained at a standstill for the past three years, since talks first began in 2001.
The Importance of Oil
So far, mining has been the number one item on the agenda during the FTA negotiations, closely followed by oil. Canadian corporation TrueStar Petroleum is currently in talks with the Ministry of Energy and Mining (MEM) to obtain the largest oil deal in the country, in the Northern Transversal Strip (FTN), in Chisec, in the department of Alta Verapaz. Currently, 90% of this huge oilfield belongs to the Argentinean-owned Guatemalan Fuel Company (CGC), which filed for bankruptcy in 2003, and the remaining 10% belongs to Ceiba Petroleum, a subsidiary of TrueStar Petroleum.
By arranging the meeting with the Guatemalan Congressional delegation, Quetzal Energy is increasingly seen as the company that took over British company Petrolatina Energy and its investments in Guatemala.
The president of Toronto-based Quetzal Energy is Michael Realini, former CEO of Petrolatina Guatemala until late 2006. Realini left Petrolatina (formerly Taghmen Energy) after the company suspended its operations in the FTN: contract 6-93 in Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas, Alta Verapaz and contract 7-2005 in the municipalities of Cobán, Alta Verapaz and Ixcán, in the highland department of Quiché.
The first contract was suspended due to technical problems even though the oil in the area is the best quality oil to be found so far in the country. The second was suspended after the municipality of Cobán stated that the company could not extract oil from Las Tortugas oilfield.
Quetzal Energy was set up in May 2007 and shortly after, it began to negotiate the takeover of Petrolatina Guatemala (a subsidiary of Petrolatina Energy). In August 2007, Quetzal Energy bought Petrolatina Guatemala for US$4 million. Thus, Quetzal Energy became the owner of Las Casas , Las Tortugas and Atzam oilfields.
Back in 2004, Realini was CEO of Mexpetrol, which was taken over by Petrolatina (then Taghmen Energy) in 2005. Mexpetrol, the international branch of Mexican state-owned Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX), owned the license to extract oil from Las Casas , which had previously belonged to US oil corporation Pentagon Petroleum.
Realini was also Vice-President of Pentagon Petroleum*, which ceased operations in the Northern department of Petén and the municipality of Ixcán, in Quiché highlands. Pentagon Petroleum owned the Las Casas and Piedras Blancas oilfields in Ixcán.
Las Casas was taken over by Mexpetrol in 1995 and Piedras Blancas , which Pentagon Petroleum had purchased from the AMOCO transnational corporation in 1992, was taken over by Triton Energy in 1994. Before working for Pentagon Petroleum, Realini worked for AMOCO.
Until recently, Realini was a member of President Berger's Strategic Advisory Council. He is also president of the Guatemalan-American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and honorary member of the Center for Strategic Studies on National Stability (ESTNA).
The Ministry of Energy and Mining is planning to put at least six oilfields up for tender in 2008 (see box), among them Piedras Blancas , in Ixcán, which has a total extension of 108 thousand hectares. Quetzal Energy has shown great interest in Piedras Blancas , which is hardly surprising given Realini's experience in the area.
*Pentagon Petroleum founded Canadian mining corporation Condor Resources in 1998 and in 2003, the company purchased the license for El Pato , in the department of Chiquimula. In 2004, Canadian corporation Goldex Resources, also founded by Pentagon Petroleum, bought the licenses for Condor Resources and continued to operate through El Condor, a subsidiary of Condor Resources. According to the United Nations Revolving Fund for Natural Resources Exploration (UNRFNRE), El Pato is one of the country's greatest gold reserves. Goldex Resources also owns the Cerro de las Minas project, adjacent to El Pato. Realini was a member of Condor Resources' board of directors in 1998-2001 and also worked for Goldex Resources.
According to Rubén Darío Morales, president of the Guatemalan Congress, the main purpose of the trip was to assuage Canadian investors' anxieties with regards to the new government and lack of progress on the FTA.
However, initial media reports were unclear as to where the invitation had come from. Whereas some newspapers reported that the delegation had been invited by the Canadian-Guatemalan Chamber of Commerce (Can-Cham-Guate), others reported that the six-day trip was organized by Canadian oil corporation Quetzal Energy. The fact that the delegation spent Q169 thousand (US$22 thousand) worth of taxpayers' money on meals also raised eyebrows.
The delegation that went to Canada included Darío Morales, his advisor Luis Rubio, Congressman Otto Zea, of the National Advancement party (PAN), president of the Congressional Commission on the Environment and Natural Resources and also member of the Congressional Commission on Energy and Mining; Congressman Luis Fernando Pérez, president of the Congressional Commission on Energy and Mining and member of the Congressional Commission on Infrastructure; and Guillermo Sosa, president of the Congressional Commission on Infrastructure and member of the Congressional Commission on Energy and Mining. The latter are members of the Guatemalan Republican Front Party (FRG).
Can-Cham-Guate, created in August 2006, mainly represents the interests of Canadian oil and mining corporations operating in Guatemala such as GoldCorp, Inc.; Montana Exploradora de Guatemala, S.A.; Nichromet Extraction Inc. (Nichromet Guatemala); Aurogin Resources and the Guatemalan Nickel Company (CGN).
Other members include Bocanueva, S.A., one of the three mining corporations owned by the International Nickel Co. (INCO) in the Northwestern department of Izabal; and the private consultancy firm Consultoría y Tecnología Ambiental, S.A. (CTA), whose legal representative, Ángel Adrián Juárez , was in charge of the National Commission on Environmental Issues (CONAMA) during the Arzú administration and has carried out environmental impact studies for many foreign mining corporations.
In mid 2007, the Guatemalan media reported that much progress had been achieved in negotiating the terms of the agreement. The last remaining obstacle was the issue of textile imports. However, the negotiations have remained at a standstill for the past three years, since talks first began in 2001.
The Importance of Oil
So far, mining has been the number one item on the agenda during the FTA negotiations, closely followed by oil. Canadian corporation TrueStar Petroleum is currently in talks with the Ministry of Energy and Mining (MEM) to obtain the largest oil deal in the country, in the Northern Transversal Strip (FTN), in Chisec, in the department of Alta Verapaz. Currently, 90% of this huge oilfield belongs to the Argentinean-owned Guatemalan Fuel Company (CGC), which filed for bankruptcy in 2003, and the remaining 10% belongs to Ceiba Petroleum, a subsidiary of TrueStar Petroleum.
By arranging the meeting with the Guatemalan Congressional delegation, Quetzal Energy is increasingly seen as the company that took over British company Petrolatina Energy and its investments in Guatemala.
The president of Toronto-based Quetzal Energy is Michael Realini, former CEO of Petrolatina Guatemala until late 2006. Realini left Petrolatina (formerly Taghmen Energy) after the company suspended its operations in the FTN: contract 6-93 in Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas, Alta Verapaz and contract 7-2005 in the municipalities of Cobán, Alta Verapaz and Ixcán, in the highland department of Quiché.
The first contract was suspended due to technical problems even though the oil in the area is the best quality oil to be found so far in the country. The second was suspended after the municipality of Cobán stated that the company could not extract oil from Las Tortugas oilfield.
Quetzal Energy was set up in May 2007 and shortly after, it began to negotiate the takeover of Petrolatina Guatemala (a subsidiary of Petrolatina Energy). In August 2007, Quetzal Energy bought Petrolatina Guatemala for US$4 million. Thus, Quetzal Energy became the owner of Las Casas , Las Tortugas and Atzam oilfields.
Back in 2004, Realini was CEO of Mexpetrol, which was taken over by Petrolatina (then Taghmen Energy) in 2005. Mexpetrol, the international branch of Mexican state-owned Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX), owned the license to extract oil from Las Casas , which had previously belonged to US oil corporation Pentagon Petroleum.
Realini was also Vice-President of Pentagon Petroleum*, which ceased operations in the Northern department of Petén and the municipality of Ixcán, in Quiché highlands. Pentagon Petroleum owned the Las Casas and Piedras Blancas oilfields in Ixcán.
Las Casas was taken over by Mexpetrol in 1995 and Piedras Blancas , which Pentagon Petroleum had purchased from the AMOCO transnational corporation in 1992, was taken over by Triton Energy in 1994. Before working for Pentagon Petroleum, Realini worked for AMOCO.
Until recently, Realini was a member of President Berger's Strategic Advisory Council. He is also president of the Guatemalan-American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and honorary member of the Center for Strategic Studies on National Stability (ESTNA).
The Ministry of Energy and Mining is planning to put at least six oilfields up for tender in 2008 (see box), among them Piedras Blancas , in Ixcán, which has a total extension of 108 thousand hectares. Quetzal Energy has shown great interest in Piedras Blancas , which is hardly surprising given Realini's experience in the area.
*Pentagon Petroleum founded Canadian mining corporation Condor Resources in 1998 and in 2003, the company purchased the license for El Pato , in the department of Chiquimula. In 2004, Canadian corporation Goldex Resources, also founded by Pentagon Petroleum, bought the licenses for Condor Resources and continued to operate through El Condor, a subsidiary of Condor Resources. According to the United Nations Revolving Fund for Natural Resources Exploration (UNRFNRE), El Pato is one of the country's greatest gold reserves. Goldex Resources also owns the Cerro de las Minas project, adjacent to El Pato. Realini was a member of Condor Resources' board of directors in 1998-2001 and also worked for Goldex Resources.
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Oil fields up for tender for 2008 | |
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Area |
Location |
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1-2007 (Costal) |
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4-2007 (Laguna Blanca) |
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9-2007 (Piedras Blancas) |
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PAC-1-2007 |
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PAC-2-2007 |
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PAC-3-2007 |
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