Gusela's interview:

http://www.fxstreet.com/news/forex-n...

Canada's Petrolifera: To Sell Oil, Gas Assets In Argentina

BUENOS AIRES (Dow Jones)--Canadian oil and gas company Petrolifera Petroleum plans to sell its assets in Argentina, the company's CEO said Tuesday.

"We're in the asset-allocation business," Petrolifera CEO Richard Gusella said in a telephone interview. "We feel we can redeploy the capital elsewhere and get better returns."

Petrolifera has extensive oil and gas reserves in midwestern Argentina. Its key resources are located the Puesto Morales and Rinconada oil and gas fields.

The company claims to have proven reserves there totaling 17.8 million barrels of oil equivalent.

All together, proven, probable and possible reserves amount to 39 million barrels.

Gusella said potential buyers have already voiced interest in purchasing the company's assets. He said he thinks the company will be able to complete a sale within the next quarter.

Gusella declined to provide more information about why Perolifera wants to leave Argentina and declined to comment on local media reports indicating it is unhappy with the Argentine government's tax and energy policies.

"We've had a pleasant experience," he said. "We've invested more than we've generated."

Asked specifically about local tax and pricing policies, which many energy executives here complain about in private, Gusella said tax policy is just one of many factors the company considered when deciding to sell.

"The whole quantum of fiscal policy and opportunity index all bear on our thought process," he said.

In its statement, Petrolifera said its board of directors believes the company's assets in Colombia and Peru have "greater identified growth potential."

SH comments:

http://www.stockhouse.com/Bullboards...

"The oil price above US$43/bo really doesn’t mean anything to any oil producer in Argentina" who is not able to qualify for the Petroleo Plus Program. That means proved reserves replacement ratio of 1 or higher in Argentina. And PDP have no chance of qualifying.