Condor’s Peru Gas Project Clears Key Licence Negotiation Hurdle

PERUPETRO Qualification Opens Block Z-72 Negotiations

Condor Energy Limited (ASX:CND) has cleared a significant regulatory step in Peru, with PERUPETRO formally qualifying the company to move into direct negotiations over a proposed exploration and exploitation licence for offshore Block Z-72. The qualification confirms Condor’s legal, financial and technical capability, but it is not a licence award: community consultation, agreement on final terms and government approvals are still required before execution.

The milestone gives a more concrete shape to the licence application lodged in the previous quarter. It also arrives after the company’s management held meetings in Peru with PERUPETRO, Energy and Mines Minister Guillermo Shinno and Vice Minister of Hydrocarbons Iris Cárdenas. The proposed contract would provide the framework for exploration, appraisal and potential development across Condor’s offshore portfolio.

Condor’s qualification comes after the Block Z-72 qualification was reported as enabling direct licence talks, though the remaining approval conditions mean the next stage remains contractual rather than operational.

Piedra Redonda Study Defines Flexible Offshore Concepts

The company also completed an independent Development Concept and Feasibility Study for Piedra Redonda, its flagship gas opportunity in the shallow-water Tumbes Basin. Agile Energy screened conventional development options based on offshore wellhead platforms connected by pipeline to an onshore gas reception facility, and prepared independent Class 4 cost estimates.

Two principal configurations were assessed: a single wellhead platform connected to shore, and a larger two-platform development. The scenarios use only part of Piedra Redonda’s approximately 1 Tcf of independently assessed 2C Contingent Resources, leaving scope to expand if Condor secures additional gas demand. The study is therefore a project-definition step, not a final investment decision or a commitment to construction.

The completed study, which previously supported discussions around a conventional offshore development, now gives prospective gas customers and strategic partners a technical basis for assessing infrastructure requirements and possible development scale. Condor says it is continuing to refine the concept as commercial arrangements and customer specifications emerge, with future progression towards Front End Engineering Design still ahead.

Commercialisation Advances While Drilling Options Are Tested

During management’s visit to Peru, Condor advanced discussions with prospective gas offtakers and potential strategic partners across its offshore portfolio. The company has not disclosed counterparties, proposed volumes, pricing or transaction terms, so the commercial work remains at discussion stage.

Condor also began a drilling feasibility study and rig market survey to assess possible future offshore drilling requirements, rig availability and development options. Those studies are intended to inform licence negotiations and partnering discussions rather than signal that a drilling programme has been approved.

Cash Position Provides Time but Not Project Funding

Condor reported A$2.945 million in cash and cash equivalents at 30 September, down from A$3.390 million a quarter earlier. Operating activities used A$257,000 and exploration and evaluation activities used A$188,000, producing total relevant outgoings of A$445,000 for the quarter. On that basis, the Appendix 5B estimates 6.62 quarters of funding, with no financing facilities available or drawn.

That calculation describes the company’s funding position at the reported spending rate; it does not establish the cost of FEED, drilling, licence execution or eventual development. The next material test is whether licence negotiations, gas offtake discussions and strategic partnering can turn the technical work into a funded project pathway before larger capital requirements arrive.