Petrel Energy completes Uruguay petroleum investment

(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors - Australia) Petrel Energy (ASX: PRL) has completed a US$2.5 million investment into petroleum exploration projects in Uruguay, where major players have started to secure prospective acreage. This includes French supermajor Total, which secured two concessions north of Petrels' Uruguay acreage. The investment gives Petrel an initial 25% stake in private U.S. company Schuepbach Energy International, which holds the Piedra Sola and Salto concession areas in Uruguay. It also gives the company a 85% stake in two licences prospective for gas in southern Spain. The funds will cover the first phase of a three-stage work program, primarily on the acreage in Uruguay. Petrel also holds two further options to increase its interest in Schuepbach to 60% over the next 18 months through a total additional investment of US$11.5 million.