Oil and Gas in the Peruvian Amazon

The northwest and southern parts of the Peruvian Amazon forest have been identified as having large reserves of oil and gas. Subsequently the area has been zoned for oil and gas activity. Currently there are 29 oil "blocks" in Peru, and 75% of these have been created or leased within the last three years. This has caused a deep concern for those who fear further destruction of the forest.

"One of the major fears conservationists have," he says, "since virtually all of the blocks are in roadless rainforest, is that oil and gas companies will have to build new road networks and pipeline right-of-ways to access drilling platforms. These new corridors would provide unprecedented access to previously remote rainforest, leading to colonization of indigenous territories and accelerated deforestation rates."

"The Peruvian Amazon, a region that still holds some of the most pristine biodiverse rainforests on Earth, is facing an unprecedented wave of new oil and gas exploration.

“Around 54 million acres of remote and intact rainforest is now zoned for oil and gas activities in Peru,” said Dr Matt Finer, staff ecologist at Save America’s Forests in Washington, DC. “This amounts to more than 25 per cent of the entire Peruvian Amazon.”

After Peru had not had any new major oil discoveries in decades, the government lowered royalties on exploration in 2003. This move sparked a resurgence of interest in Peru among foreign oil companies."

For more information go to: http://www.peopleandplanet.net/doc.php?id=2653

For a map of the oil blocks go to: http://mirror.perupetro.com.pe/exploracion01-e.asp

Tags: peru, rainforest, oil, amazon rainforest