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| Workers on portion of Camisea pipeline, near Pisco, Peru (Photo courtesy of Inter-American Development Bank) |
The IDB's board of executive directors cleared the financial aid for the Camisea project on Sept. 10, but the board member from the U.S., Jose A. Fourquet, abstained. Fourquet cited several reasons for his abstention, including "indications that private financing may be available on favorable terms, " and that the U.S. has "not been able to allay doubts about the adequacy of the environmental assessment conducted for the project."
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Environmental groups have opposed the Camisea project, which is under construction, contending it would harm the Amazon forest, as well as a reserve for indigenous people and another reserve for marine life.
The financing approved by the IDB includes a $75-million loan from its capital for up to 14 years and a $60-million syndicated loan that would include participation by private banks for a term of up to 12 years.
The loans will help finance a 714-km-long natural gas pipeline and a 540-km-long natural gas liquids pipeline, whose total cost is $811 million. They will run from the Camisea field, which is 431 km east of Lima, to the Pacific coast.
On Aug. 28, the U.S. Export-Import Bank rejected an application for a $214.6-million loan guarantee for the Camisea project.
controversial $1.6-billion natural gas project in Peru has received a financial boost from the Inter-American Development Bank, which approved $135 million in loans for the pipeline portion of the job.
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