Peru Suspends Natural Gas Exports, Imposes Fuel Rationing

Peru has suspended exports of natural gas and will impose fuel rationing due to technical issues at Argentine energy company Pluspetrol's operations in the country, it said on Thursday.

Peru, one of South America's largest producers of natural gas, declared an emergency to direct all natural gas supplies for domestic consumption, citing a drop in production at Pluspetrol's Las Malvinas plant in the Camisea gas fields in southern Peru.

The Camisea consortium, which Pluspetrol controls, said it partially suspended operations after detecting a "potentially atypical condition" at its installations on Tuesday.

Camisea added in a statement that it would process enough natural gas to meet domestic fuel needs in coming days. The emergency declaration will remain in place through Saturday, the energy and mines ministry said. It added that natural gas supplies are sufficient to meet all domestic needs, including for industry and commerce.

"Domestic consumers ... will have priority over supplies," the energy and mines ministry said in a statement. "Exports are suspended."

(Reporting By Mitra Taj and Marco Aquino; Editing by Susan Thomas)