Peru Pipeline Loans postponed

posted by ewing2001 on Thursday August 07, @04:49PM

Fight about Oil worldwide continues
Project has close ties with Bush and Cheney

Financial Times -August 6 2003

Peru pipeline loans postponed

Two international banks have postponed up to $335m (€295m, £208m) in loans to a controversial gas pipeline in Peru, in a move that signals the Bush administration's growing scepticism towards the project.

The Inter-American Development Bank and the US Export-Import Bank on Wednesday delayed their decisions on whether to grant $135m and $200m respectively for the Camisea project amid controversy about its environmental and social impact.

Environmental groups say the dual pipeline, to carry natural gas 700km from the Camisea fields to Lima and liquids for export to the coast, has scarred the Amazon rainforest and affected indigenous populations.

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The IDB had already postponed its decision by a week at the request of its president after board members failed to reach a consensus. On Wednesday, Jose Fourquet, the US representative on the board, asked for the decision to be postponed until the end of August, saying he needed more time to consider the proposal.

Since Mr Fourquet's vote ultimately rests with the US Treasury, the delay indicates the administration's reluctance to back a project mired in controversy. It is a sign of official concern about the risk to the banks' reputations if they approved loans without imposing stricter environmental conditions.

The delay may also signal a change in the Bush administration's stance towards environmental issues.

Some environmental groups had suggested that Ex-Im, whose board includes two Republicans and one Democrat, might be coming under pressure from the White House to approve the project. But on Wednesday the bank took the vote on Camisea off its agenda, saying this would "give board members more time to consider all aspects of the project".

The delay represents a setback for the Peruvian government, which has been active in promoting the $800m pipeline, the country's largest energy project and a development showcase for President Alejandro Toledo.

The project is already more than 60 per cent completed but any hold-up on Ex-Im's loan guarantees could jeopardise the second phase, which includes a plant for exporting gas liquids to the US and Mexico.

Background on the Peru-Pipeline project:

Houston Chronicle/WP -July 29, 2003

"...The Camisea natural gas project involves two Texas energy companies with close ties to the White House: Dallas-based Hunt Oil Co. and Houston-based Halliburton Co.'s KBR unit, formerly Kellogg Brown & Root.

... The boards of the Inter-American Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of the United States are considering more than $300 million in financing for the project. The Inter-American Development Bank is set to vote today, and the Export-Import Bank will take up the issue soon.

Export-Import Bank President Phillip Merrill, a close ally of Vice President Dick Cheney, declined to comment.

Disinfopedia about Ray L. Hunt:

Ray Lee Hunt is a "Dallas businessman whose association with Hunt Oil Company began in 1958 as a summer employee in the oil fields. He was educated at Southern Methodist University (SMU) and received a degree in economics in June 1965. While at SMU, he was designated a University Scholar, served on the student senate, received the Outstanding Business Student Award and was president of his fraternity, Phi Delta Theta.[1]

Hunt now serves as Chairman of the Board, President, and CEO of Hunt Consolidated, Inc.; Chairman of the Board and CEO of Hunt Oil Company; and Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer and President, RRH Corporation. He has been Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Hunt Private Equity Group since its inception in 1990. [2]

Hunt was appointed in October 2001 by President George Walker Bush to the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board.[3]

Hunt joined the Halliburton Company Board in 1998. He is Chairman of the Compensation Committee and member of the Audit and the Management Oversight Committees. He also serves as a member of the boards of directors of PepsiCo, Inc., King Ranch, Inc., Electronic Data Systems Corporation, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, and Security Capital Group Incorporated.[4][5] [6]

Hunt currently serves as a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.; the Board of Trustess for the [George Bush Presidential Library Foundation George Bush Presidential Library Foundation; the Board of Advisors for theMaguire Energy Institute at SMU Cox School of Business; the Board of Directors of the Texas Research League; the executive committee of the Southwestern Medical Foundation in Dallas; and the Board of Trustees of Southern Methodist University.[7]

Hunt has served as chairman of the National Petroleum Council in Washington, D.C. (an industry advisory organization for the Secretary of Energy) and served as its chairman from June 1991 to July 1994. In 1980-81 he served as president of the Domestic Petroleum Council [8] He is currently a member of the board of directors of the American Petroleum Institute. He also has served as president of the Dallas Petroleum Club.[9]

In 1987, Hunt was given The Order of Marib by the government of the Republic of Yemen.

Public Financing Delayed Again For Destructive Gas Project in Peru’s Amazon

Washington D.C.—For the second time in two weeks, under intense pressure from environmental and human rights groups and members of Congress, today the Board of Executive Directors of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) delayed scheduled votes on the controversial $2.6 billion Camisea Gas Project in Peru. Votes at both banks were expected on August 6th but are now cancelled due to no consensus.

Sources indicate that the U.S. Government has yet to develop a final position on Camisea at either bank. European and Japanese Board members at the IDB are also growing increasingly concerned with the project. However, it is anticipated that the project be will brought back for votes within a month.

Friends of the Earth and Amazon Watch also report that prominent Hollywood celebrities will be issuing a related statement to President Bush this week on Camisea as the campaign to protect this part of the planet heats up.

The project is already scarring the Peruvian Amazon and affecting the Nahua-Kugapakori Reserve-home to previously uncontacted and isolated indigenous populations. Groups are also concerned about an export terminal for Camisea will also be built in the Buffer Zone of the Paracas National Marine Reserve, Peru's only marine sanctuary for endangered birds and mammals.

Recently a letter was sent from 13 U.S. Senators to the U.S. Treasury Secretary –the agency that directs U.S. voting decisions at IDB—and the head of the U.S. Export-Import Bank. The letter opposes public support for Camisea at this time, and echoes the concerns of House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-California) who also sent a letter.

Reacting to today’s delay, environmental and human rights groups issued this statement:

“We applaud the decisions by Ex-Im and IDB to delay consideration of Camisea. These decisions send a clear message that the Camisea project as it currently stands is fundamentally flawed. Peruvian civil society organizations want fundamental problems addressed or this delay will be meaningless: drilling inside an indigenous reserve, massive threats to tropical forests and rivers, and an export terminal next to the internationally recognized Paracas Marine Reserve.

Today, the burden and opportunity for leadership has shifted to President Toledo. President Toledo has the opportunity to lead discussions between the concerned organizations and the companies and public banks in order to implement Peruvian civil society’s demands and avoid even more devastation for indigenous communities, rainforests and a world-class marine reserve. This will require President Toledo to hear the voices of Peruvian civil society and push back deadlines for project completion.”

"...Texas-based independent Hunt Oil, head of the two Camisea consortia, has close ties to the Bush administration. Chief executive Ray L. Hunt contributed to President Bush’s campaign and also sits on the Board of Halliburton; which is conducting studies for Hunt’s plans to ship fuel from Camisea to California markets..."

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