MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

YPF announces plans for off-shore drilling in Santa Cruz

Argentine Oil Corporation YPF announced this week a 500 million US dollars annual investment plan to be mainly implemented in the Patagonian province of Santa Cruz to help sustain hydrocarbons extraction in the San Jorge Gulf basin

The plan includes the reactivating 150 oil wells to the north of the province and contracting several rigs for off shore exploration. "It's essential the announced investments are advanced with a coordinated effort and according to a specific timetable so we can be successful. The same can be said about offshore exploration, which we believe is the heart of this new plan", said Santa Cruz governor Daniel Peralta during the ceremony when the announcements were made. Investments will help the reactivation of 150 wells and in twelve months "we should have a better picture of the situation, how much additional production has been achieved and if its enough to keep the current level of production", said Tomas Garcia Blanco YPF head of Exploration and Exploitation. "We understand that the basin is geologically complicated but we still have enough oil underground in the province so we are certain that with different techniques we'll manage an increased volume of production", underscored Garcia Blanco. The YPF official also announced that offshore exploration in the San Jorge Gulf will soon begin when platforms arrive to explore at an average depth of 2.500 meters. Enrique Eskenazi, YPF vicepresident said announcements in Santa Cruz also refer to exploration plans in other provinces "such as Neuquen and Mendoza". The Petersen Group belonging to the Eskenazi family recently took hold of 25% of YPF, which nine years ago had been acquired by Spain's main oil and gas corporation Repsol.