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Brief history of the country
Panama (the Republic of Panama) is a strategically located country bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south.
Panama was originally inhabited by tribes dating back thousands of years but, after landings and settlement by Spain from 1502, these were mostly wiped out, primarily by disease. Under Spanish rule from 1538, it became part of the Viceroyalty of Peru.
In 1698 it was the site of the Darien scheme which involved the set-up up of a Scottish colony. The scheme’s failure and ensuing debt led to a bail out by England (and union with Scotland in 1707).
Panama finally broke away from Spain in 1821 to join the Republic of Gran Colombia (Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela). This dissolved in 1831 with Panama remaining with Colombia.
Encouraged by the USA, Panama gained independence in 1903, allowing the Panama Canal to be built by the USA who kept sovereignty over a 16 km wide zone. In 1977 the transfer of the canal was agreed to hapen in 1999.
From 1970 Panama was ruled as a military dictatorship. It was invaded by the USA in 1989 in an attempt to restore order and democracy. Revenue from canal tolls have dominated the economy although commerce, banking and tourism are growing sectors.
Oil and gas summary
Panama has a central spine of mountains that forms the continental divide. This is the eroded volcanic arc at the junction of the Caribbean plate and the Cocos plate beneath the Pacific Ocean. The latter is moving northeast and is being subducted below the Caribbean plate.
Panama has no identified indigenous oil or gas resources, either onshore or offshore. Apart from a few onshore exploration wells, drilled since the 1940s, Panama has no history of drilling and no production.
The country is volcanic in nature and lacks sedimentary basins and the onshore geology would appear to be not suitable for the generation and accumulation of commercial volumes of oil and gas.
Potential sedimentary basins exist in the deep waters of the northeast in the Caribbean Sea where there have been discoveries in neighbouring Colombia.
A multi-client seismic survey was conducted in 2017 to assess the potential of offshore basins but Globalshift believes the country is unlikely to achieve any production in the short or medium term.
PANAMA
Map and National Flag
CENTRAL AMERICA
Coconuts for sale
Central America
Capital
Population
Land area (sq kms)
Oil prod (000s b/d)
Gas prod (bcm/yr)
Oil cons (000s b/d)
Gas cons (bcm/yr)
Panama City
3.5 mm
75,417
None
None
104
None
Panama is a presidential representative democratic republic. The President is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system.
Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Assembly, which is elected by proportional representation.
There is no government department specifically responsible for oil and gas resources although the Ministry of Commerce and Industries governs mineral concessions with oil and gas covered by the Secretariat of Energy.