Portugal’s ‘National Entity for the Fuel Market’, or ENMC formally has proposed to the Government that the deposit lodged by the Partex-Repsol oil exploration consortium should be forfeit due to the failure of the companies to comply with their work plan as detailed in the contract.
The oil exploration contracts, which the last government signed with the Repsol-Partex consortium, stated that the first offshore well in the Algarve exploration area would be drilled in 2016.
The government has decided to terminate these contracts as no drilling has taken place, much to the joy of anti-oil protestors and Algarve residents.
The ENMC already has proposed the execution of the deposit bond, this has been confirmed by a source close to the Secretary of State for Energy, and the ENMC now has to listen to interested parties within a set deadline before being able to bank the €4.5 million deposit.
The agreement entered into with Repsol and Partex provided for exploration, research, development and the production of oil in the Algarve basin. The consortium planned to drill a hole 40 to 50 kilometres off the coast of the Algarve, to the south of Faro.
This the consortium has failed to do, due to the publicity triggered by an effective anti-oil movement and the continuing low price of oil on the international market.
