British company reports oil find in Paraguay's Chaco Basin, but government cautious

A British company says its found oil in Paraguay's Chaco Basin, though the government says it's too soon to tell if the find is commercially viable.

Shares of London-based President Energy doubled after the oil explorer on Monday announced discovery of light oil in the Lapacho well. It says the find is "expected to be commercial."

But Paraguay's deputy energy and mining minister is cautious.

Emilio Buongermini says it will take a couple of months to analyze whether the basin can be exploited commercially.

Dozens of Paraguayan and international companies have unsuccessfully searched for oil in the Chaco basin for decades. Paraguay has no proven oil reserves and imports all of its fuels for domestic use.