Boston, MA -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/11/2013 -- BMI View: Chile's small resource base makes the country heavily dependent upon imports to satisfy demand and promote economic growth. Indeed, Chile in 2011 had to import 97% of total oil needs and 66% of its natural gas requirement. These issues will persist in spite of some long-term upside potential stemming from the country's shale gas prospects. In the meantime, imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) will play a greater role in energy security.

The key trends and developments in the Chilean oil & gas sector are:

- In terms of domestic production, we forecast both oil and gas to rise moderately in the coming years, with oil production increasing at an average of 1.8% through to 2021 and natural gas increasing at an average rate of 1.05% through to 2015 and then to decline thereafter. At the same time, Chilean consumption of oil and natural gas will steadily increase, adding additional pressure on the government and state-owned Empresa Nacional del Petroleo (ENAP) to increase imports. Indeed, due to the country's small resource base, Chile in 2011 had to import 97% of total oil needs and 66% of its natural gas requirement.
- Today, two LNG import terminals service different regions of the country. The Quintero regasification terminal provides natural gas to the majority of the country's population, while the Mejillones terminal is well positioned to service the lucrative Chilean copper mines in the north. Due to the energy intensity of the copper industry, there is significant interest in expanding the capacity at Mejillones up from its current annual capacity of 2.0bn cubic metres (bcm).
- Chilean power generators Colbun and AES Gener have selected Bermuda-registered Hoegh LNG to install a new floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) in Chile. The term of the contract is 10 years, with an optional extension of five years. The FSRU, which will be situated in Quintero Bay, will supply AES Gener's power plants in the country with natural gas. The scheduled start-up of the project is late-2014. The transaction is subject to completion of final documentation and board approval from both parties.
- In terms of consumption, we forecast that oil use will rise from an estimated 332,400 barrels per day (b/d) in 2012 to 345,700b/d by 2016. It will continue to increase steadily at an average rate of 1.8% through to 2021. If Chile is to boost oil production, its best hope lies in exploration taking place in the Magallanes region in the south of the country. We are also forecasting gas consumption rising from an estimated 6.1bcm in 2012 to 9.8bcm by 2021.

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