Lima: Peru's Perupetro and India's Reliance Industries have set up a partnership to drill for oil and gas in potential oilfields in Peru, the president of Peru's state-owned oil company has said.

"We'll be formalising the agreements reached these past weeks, and in the coming days we'll provide details of the joint exploration venture in areas that hold oil and gas potential," Cesar Gutierrez told Peru s official Andina news agency yesterday.

The Perupetro-Reliance partnership will likely bid in a Perupetro auction for drilling rights in 22 areas of exploration that will be distributed in September.

Gutierrez said Reliance had an aggressive expansion plan in Peru, which it believes holds great potential in hydrocarbon deposits.

Between March and June, Reliance drilled in three potential oil fields in the Peruvian jungle and in April bought drilling rights in area 141,near Lake Titicaca, in an agreement with Ireland's Pan Andean Resources.

Source : PTI