Peru to auction oil and gas exploration lots Tue

LIMA, May 5 (Reuters) - Peru will auction 17 parcels for petroleum prospecting starting on Tuesday, with the hope of capturing some $800 million of exploration investment, the government said on Monday.

The lots are located throughout the Andean country, along the Pacific Ocean and in the mountains. Eight jungle tracks will be bid off, Ronald Egusquiza, the president of the state-run Perupetro, told reporters.

"Tomorrow (on Tuesday) we will start ... the second auction," Egusquiza said.

Last year, Peru's government, which is actively encouraging foreign companies to invest in oil and gas explorations in its quest to become more energy self-sufficient, auctioned 19 parcels.

Egusquiza said companies have until September 8 to submit their offers. Results will be released two days later.

He acknowledged some of the 17 lots in the auction cut into national parks and nature reserves.

In recent months, Peru has come under fire from rights groups that say the government is not doing enough to protect the environment. Indigenous people who have shunned contact with the rest of society are thought to live within some of the parcels included in the auction.

Peru, a net oil importer, hopes to become a net exporter by 2010. The Andean country produced 41.6 million barrels of crude oil last year. (Reporting by Maria Luisa Palomino; Writing by Dana Ford; Editing by Christian Wiessner)