A decade of political stability and steady growth (average of 6% annually for the past 10 years) has brought attention to Peru in all sectors, and hydrocarbons are no exception. The massive undertaking of bringing Camisea, one of the continent’s largest gas fields, into production in 2004 was the first step in developing Peru’s sizable hydrocarbon potential. The project also highlighted the substantial difficulties that await the sector’s full development, including what many believe to be the highest pipeline ever built. Economic growth has, naturally, increased Peruvian energy consumption, and domestic production of 70,000 barrels of crude oil per day (bbl/d) is dwarfed by a daily consumption of 189,000 bbl/d. Peru’s modern petroleum industry is small, with only 38 E&P companies operating 82 blocks in the country’s 15 basins. But a new bidding round of 36 blocks has been announced for November 2012, and has generated widespread international interest.