Business & Economics

Oil and gas permits being renogotiated in 'dry' Honduras

By LARRY LEE

TEGUCIGALPA -- Of 32 wells perforated in Honduras since 1920, only one has yielded any oil -- and the gas was too heavy to be of any use.

The exploration contracts -- held by Mobil, Shell, Texaco and Chevron, among others -- have now expired and are being renegotiated.

An exploration permit lasts four years.

The one site where oil has been found is Ceibita, in the northern department of Yoro. But government sources say they believe the hottest area for finding oil will be in Honduras' huge eastern department, or state, of Olancho. The economy of Olancho, home of breathtaking cloud forests and rivers next to the Mosquitia and Nicaragua, now depends mainly on cattle ranching.

Of the 32 wells perforated, half were in the Mosquitia. A dozen were near Tela, on the Caribbean Sea, and four were along the Ulua River in Yoro.

The Honduran Ministry of Natural Resources' Bureau of Mines and Hydrocarbons is in charge of the exploration and administering the Law of Hydrocarbons and Their Regulation. That law says that half of all oil found in Honduras will be consumed within the country.

Honduras is totally dependent on oil imports and even

refining. Texaco once had a refinery in Puerto Cortés, Central America's biggest port an hour north of San Pedro Sula, the nation's industrial capital and home to hundreds of maquilas. The refinery is now used for storage.

Another refinery has been proposed for the northern coastal town of Trujillo, but many say Trujillo has the best beaches of Honduras' mainland. Hopes to turn it into a major tourist resort area in the future leave many with doubts that a refinery will ever be built there.

Gas prices up again

Gas prices are up again, topping the Lps. 21 mark in certain sectors of the nation for the first time. In Tegucigalpa, regular was raised last Friday (August 17) to Lps. 19.83 per gallon, up Lps. 0.30 and premium is 20.42, also up Lps. 0.30. Diesel increased Lps. 0.54 and now costs Lps. 14.92 in the capital. In other parts of the country, regular and premium now cost, respectively, Lps. 19.34 and Lps. 19.93 in San Pedro Sula; Lps. 20.76 and Lps. 21.35 in Trujillo; and Lps. 19.56 and Lps. 20.15 in Choluteca.

Maquilas take a bite out of debt

The maquila industry employed 23 percent more Hondurans in 1995 than in 1994, says a report released this week by the Central Bank of Honduras. In 1994, 42,541 Honduran workers found jobs in one of the 114 manufacturing companies operating in the nation's industrial parks. This number grew to 54,995 in 1995 and is expected to reach more than 61,000 by the end of this year, say CBH officials. Meanwhile, the maquila industry injected Lps. 758.2 back into the national economy through wages and salaries in 1995. This figure is also expected to grow. According to the Central Bank report, the maquila industry contributed Lps. 258.5 million to last year's balance of payments, through taxes, services and consumption.

Japan will look for oil in La Mosquitia

The Honduran government has reached an agreement with Japan's Institute of Geosciences to send a joint Honduran-Japanese team to the La Moqsuitia region to explore for petroleum deposits. Engineers have suspected Honduras could have oil since the beginning of this century, but all explorations to date have turned up nothing. Nevertheless, new technologies have made some experts hopeful. "The studies of the past have varied according to time and technology," says Miguel Villeda, director of the Natural Resources Ministry's Mines and Hydrocarbons Department. "Today it's worth it to go back to some areas that have technically already been studied. The actual drilling won't begin until April 1997, according to a Notimex report. The Japanese engineers will also transfer petroleum technologies to Honduran engineering students.