Business
PetroTal triples profit forecast as Peru oil field gears up for drilling comeback
PetroTal triples profit forecast as Peru oil field gears up for drilling
About this update from Petrotal Corp.
Peru's largest crude producer, PetroTal Corp., has dramatically revised its financial outlook for 2026 following a strong first quarter, whilst advancing preparations for a pivotal drilling campaign that management expects to reposition the company for sustained output growth into 2027. The Calgary-listed operator has raised its adjusted EBITDA guidance to between $110mn and US$120mn for the full year, a near-threefold increase from the original $30mn–$40mn range issued at the start of 2026, according to the company's first-quarter earnings presentation. Chief financial officer Camilo McAllister told investors that net operating income could reach approximately $180mn — double early projections — should Brent average $83 per barrel through year-end, against January's planning assumption of $60 per barrel. The revision reflects a materially improved pricing environment rather than a production rebound. First-quarter output averaged 14,907 barrels of oil per day (bopd), with 14,490 bopd attributable to the Bretaña field in Loreto's Block 95, and a modest 417 bopd from the Los Ángeles field in Block 131. Those volumes trail year-earlier levels, constrained primarily by water reinjection capacity running at roughly 170,000 barrels of water per day. Average Brent in the quarter reached $74.65 per barrel, up sharply from $62.46 in the fourth quarter of 2025, lifting adjusted EBITDA to $35.1mn — a 90% sequential increase, as reported by Lima-based business daily Gestión. Operationally, the company is working to address the water-handling bottleneck ahead of its scheduled drilling restart. Stimulation work completed across three of Bretaña's four water injection wells during April pushed disposal capacity above 180,000 barrels per day in May, from a first-quarter average of approximately 170,000. Field production dipped to around 12,850 bopd in April during the intervention but recovered to some 13,050 bopd in the first week of May, BNAmericas reported. The critical catalyst, however, remains the resumption of development drilling, contracted to begin in October 2026 following an agreement signed with a third-party drilling services provider. The rig is currently completing operations in Colombia before an overland and river transfer to Block 95 — a logistical sequence made possible after Peru's environmental certification authority Senace approved a modification...