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YPF signs agreement with Petronas for shale development in Vaca Muerta

Wednesday, February 19th 2014 - 22:16 UTC
Full article 30 comments

Argentina's state oil company YPF announced this week that it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with a subsidiary of Malaysia's national oil company Petronas for unconventional oil and gas resources development in Argentine Patagonia. Read full article

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  • CabezaDura2

    “Following the signing of the MOU, the technical teams of both companies will continue working on details, including the feasibility study for starting a joint project and the subsequent negotiations leading to a possible investment agreement, said YPF.”.......says it all really. If it is happening, it wont be anytime soon. I thought the Mexicans had also studied the feasibility of VM. So far what have they actually concluded ??

    Feb 19th, 2014 - 10:34 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • yankeeboy

    It took the USA a decade to develop our shale. We have the money, rigs and the talent. Plus we had a Oil guy as Prez. while it was all going on. (thank goodness)
    Argentina has none of that
    Pus nobody will invest while CFK is around and probably for a bit afterward to see if the next person is as nutty.

    Plus there's the little problem of distribution and refining.
    psst its not so little

    You'll be buying loads of oil for at least the next 15 yrs.

    Feb 19th, 2014 - 10:41 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • paulcedron

    oil companies invest even in syria.
    kirchner is insignificant in that matter.
    if oil companies think it is worth to invest in vaca muerta, they will do it, with or without kirchner.
    geoscience professionals from 54 companies considered it as one of the biggest shale oil fields in the world, but it seems yanqui disagree with them.
    lol

    Feb 19th, 2014 - 11:43 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • yankeeboy

    Its not like the oil companies don't know about it.
    Right?
    How come they're not banging down the door?

    Nobody will do anything until she's gone and then a few years to see how nutty the next ruler turns out to be.

    Feb 19th, 2014 - 11:48 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • El Diego

    Way to go MIguel......the investorment is growing, , YPF share price has more than doubled and it's the LATAM growth market for the industry in 2014. My revenues have tripled in less than a year but hey let's not spoil a good story because it's Argentina and Cristina!

    I wouldn't listen too much to the fools on this site with their anti everything Argentina blindsided by their own lack of knowledge about the industry and the country - they are the ones losing money because they're didn't understand the market

    Feb 20th, 2014 - 03:15 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • ChrisR

    Another MOU!

    No more oil being pumped though and LESS than when Repsol was ensuring the lowest commercial price by selling TMBOA oil at their price which Argentina on its own could not get on the open market.

    You must all be proud of how badly the oil business is going in The Dark Country!

    @5 El Dickhead. Stick to your model car and stop annoying the grown-ups.

    Feb 20th, 2014 - 11:06 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • yankeeboy

    Chris, I don't think El Diego knows what and MOU means.

    Feb 20th, 2014 - 11:25 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • El Diego

    Er let me see now ........., one of the biggest shale finds in the world and highest quality of reservloirs, YPF share price more than doubled, production up YOY, rig count has the biggest growth market in all Latin America in 2014,, investment coming in, service companies seeing double to triple growth in revenues over past two years, - HAHAHA - well done Miguel and YPF but hey let's not let success and the facts on the ground get in the way of a couple of retrobate gringos who obviously don't have a clue what's happening in the Argentine oilfields

    Argenti

    Feb 20th, 2014 - 12:20 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • yankeeboy

    El Diego, Instead of 1yr price of YPF why don't you look at the 3 or 5 year? I think this is the only major O/G company in the world that's worth less than it was 5 yrs ago.
    It is also high because it is one of the few places Rgs can put pesos and get something valued in U$.

    As I told Paul, its not like everyone knows there may be oil in VM. If it was a good investment you'd have O/G companies beating down the door.

    This poor sap has gone all around the world 2 or 3 times trying to get investment and the only one he could find is Chevron and they had to blackmail them to get that one! 1B to save 19B anyone would have taken that.

    Feb 20th, 2014 - 12:26 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Anglotino

    “one of the biggest shale finds in the world and highest quality of reservoirs”

    And yet the Argentine government is chasing companies all around the world for investment and coming up with such piddley amounts.

    Companies invested A$30 billion of capital in Australia's gas industry last year.

    A$30 BILLION!

    In a year.

    Bit El Diego is crowing because Argentina has yet another MOU that MIGHT lead to an investment.

    Feb 20th, 2014 - 07:56 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • CabezaDura2

    A good insight of what happened to YPF/Repsol and why there hasn’t being any significant investment since 2008.
    Since Petersen group came in with the blessing of Kirchner they have consistently sacked the company with high returns of dividends.
    So they emptied the company and then expropriated it.

    http://tn.com.ar/opinion/hace-seis-anos-se-decidio-vaciar-ypf_451253

    Feb 20th, 2014 - 08:06 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • yankeeboy

    As i said before it will be at least a decade before anything will happen at VM. PLUS even when it starts pumping how is it going to be transported? Trains, trucks or the pipelines you don't have?
    IF you can transport it where will it be refined?
    It takes DECADES AND MULTI BILLIONS OF U$ of careful planning to ramp up for o/g infrastructure.

    Silly people have no clue.

    Feb 20th, 2014 - 08:35 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • CabezaDura2

    Argentina has a trickle of oil from conventional. I think Argentina will rely on that on the short term...

    I don’t even know how certain we can be about VM which has being over-advertised by the gov’t out of the need of dollars.

    http://mscalabriniortiz.blogspot.com.ar/2012/09/gas-no-convencional-un-nuevo-paradigma.html

    Why are the Mexicans and Malaysians not sure of the profitability of VM yet??

    Feb 20th, 2014 - 09:09 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • yankeeboy

    13.Nobody knows how much U$ it will take or how long it will take to get the oil out of the ground.
    VM is not like anything they've ever experienced. From what I understand it is under much higher pressure and thickness ( for lack of a better term) than we have in the USA.
    So you have to develop new technology to get it out of the ground.
    Who, in their right mind, would spend years and U$ Billions in research and development only to have it expropriated by Argentina once they figure out how to get it out.
    This is why I keep saying it is not going to happen any time soon.

    BTW they're having the same problems in China.

    FYI they've known there's oil in the Falklands since the early 80s. It took them this long for the technology to advance and to make it worthwhile to extract.
    It may take that long in Argentina too. You just never know until you start drilling and nobody is going to invent some drill/procedure just ot have it taken away “for the good of the people”.

    Feb 20th, 2014 - 09:35 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • CabezaDura2

    14

    There are fiscal doubts about the actual reservoirs of VM according to Argentine energy consultants.
    The volumes extracted don’t even cover the investments required in preliminary drills in Mendoza. There is also a problem with quakes

    What is your making of this?

    http://www.mendozatransparente.com.ar/noticias/informevacamuertaelfracasodel1erpozoylosterremotosdelfracking

    http://www.mendozatransparente.com.ar/noticias/informevacamuertaelfracasodel1erpozoylosterremotosdelfracking

    http://www.mendozatransparente.com.ar/noticias/informevacamuertaelfracasodel1erpozoylosterremotosdelfracking

    Now Repsol doesn’t want to have anything to do with VM it wants half the worth of YPF while in turn trust Venezuela PDVSA to invest in, so it can only mean the Spaniards should have first hand technical detail about the reservoir in early 2012 are skeptical
    http://www.mendozatransparente.com.ar/noticias/informevacamuertaelfracasodel1erpozoylosterremotosdelfracking

    My understanding of this is that EIA was far too over optimistic about the POSSIBLE MAX amount of Shale reserves throughout the world in there 2010 report. When Repsol-YPF found VM in November 2011, CFK covered by a ignorant cabinet in energy matters must have consider this to be a gift from heaven for it would solve the incoming energy prices and the lack of dollars by foreign investors desperate to invest in VM’s miracle.

    Feb 20th, 2014 - 09:51 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • yankeeboy

    Those articles are confirming what I have been saying. Yes there's oil and gas there. But no they don't know how to get it profitably. The technology doesn't exist yet.
    It may not for 30 yrs.
    They've known there was oil in the BAKKAN formation since the 80s they just couldn't figure out how to get to it profitably.
    It took lots of people lot so time and lot of money to figure it out.

    CFK shot herself in the foot. YPF has no money no equipment and no experience getting this oil out of the ground.
    There's not anyone else that will risk their own Billions trying to figure it out for them.

    If it was profitable companies would be beating down the door. That poor guy running YPF is getting that same door slammed in his face. I am not sure how many more meetings he can have with the same people telling him no thanks don't call us we'll call you before he gets it.

    Feb 20th, 2014 - 10:16 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • CabezaDura2

    There question in any case is if there will ever be that technology that can cover a physical impediment. If the volumes are not there it is check mate. Fracking has being for some time even earlier than the 1980s, what might have changed is the actual Price of oil that made it more profitable

    Feb 20th, 2014 - 10:33 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • yankeeboy

    Its both technology and price.

    Feb 21st, 2014 - 12:56 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • CabezaDura2

    But why if Galuccio shortly after when he became chairman in May/June of 2012 of YPF, said he needed specifically around 35.000 MM USD to develop and exploit VM in the next 5 years, that means to say the tech is actually there.

    ”El año que viene(last year), la empresa realizará dos pruebas en la formación Vaca Muerta, con una inversión de 1,360 millones de dólares. De ser exitosos, la compañía argentina encarará desembolsos por 12,000 millones de dólares.”

    http://eleconomista.com.mx/industria-global/2012/06/06/ypf-busca-us35000-millones

    It seems that so far the volumes are not there?

    Feb 21st, 2014 - 01:52 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • yankeeboy

    I really couldn't say. I know there's a water issue and some oil company proposed Arg to build a 250 long aqueduct and desalination plant before they do anymore exploration in Neuquen.
    Its a mess and it will never be fixed with CFK or her minions in power.

    Feb 21st, 2014 - 02:13 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • CabezaDura2

    While Bhulgeroni who was forced to invest 500 MM USD into VM by the gov’t said the results so far have being little satisfactory, the Canadians are very optimistic about Los Leones… I just don’t get it

    http://shaleseguro.com/vaca-muerta-firma-canadiense-anuncia-nuevo-descubrimiento-de-petroleo/

    http://shaleseguro.com/vaca-muerta-firma-canadiense-anuncia-nuevo-descubrimiento-de-petroleo/

    Feb 21st, 2014 - 02:27 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • yankeeboy

    Even with the amazing imaging technology that exists today not every drill is going to find oil.
    It is much less than a 50/50 chance.
    I've been invested in gas exploration for a decade but this is conventional exploration in known fields and the company is still running about 35-40% rate at finding a profitable well.
    It not like you can see the oil and you just poke a straw into it.
    If it was that easy anyone could do it.

    Also with the current restrictions on imports the companies wouldn't even be able to bring in what they need.

    If I were you I'd forget about it. Maybe in 10-15 yrs something will happen until then it just pissing into the wind.

    Feb 21st, 2014 - 02:39 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • El Diego

    What a bunch of clueless morons on this site who haven't a clue about investment and business in South America - revenues are up 3 fold for the big service companies who started investing 3 YEARS AGO and you bunch of retrobates are still scratching your thick gringo skulls trying to figure out what's going on - “ I just don't get it” you say or look at YPF share price 5 years ago....... .Hahahahaha.........LMFHO at your pathetic attempts to figure out business in a foreign country you clearly haven't a clue about.......duh - oh it doesn't work like the good ol USA ??? Well gues what Hoss it sure doesn't - there is a big bad ol world out there beyond them thar hills...........but hey let's not confuse parochialism with just being dumb f**k brutos from redneck land......yea the old stereotypes are Alice's and well on this website meanwhile the rest of us are making a fortune in Argentina and will continue to do so until the cycle ends and then what do we do? We all sell out to those dumb gringos who then come in 10 years too late , then spend another 10 years working out that it doesn't work like Texas down here and then decide to leave because the cant make any money and then blame the government for their own lack of business savvy.......a saucier is born every day

    Feb 21st, 2014 - 03:03 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • CabezaDura2

    Hey Dany Berger.... How much do you pay to fill the tank of that Ferrari Nac & Pop of yours???.... LOL what a muppet!

    Feb 21st, 2014 - 03:24 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • yankeeboy

    It looks like there's finally a deal with Repsol. If you don't see a marked increase in new companies wanting to do exploration in VM in the next 6mos- 1yr. You won't see anything coming out of there in the next generation.

    Diego, In banana republics there's always slimy ways to make money through gov't connections. If that is what you do good for you. Just wait until the gov't changes and you'll have it all taken away and probably be in jail right along with CFK and her minions.
    That's the cycle
    Thats the only way to make money in crony capitalism
    Than's why Argentina will be poorer in the next decade than it was in the previous decade.
    and on and on
    enjoy your $500 peso notes because pretty soon they'll be 5000 peso notes buying the same things.

    Feb 21st, 2014 - 10:30 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • El Diego

    You ask about the Ferrari.............interestingly enough I am just about to upgrade to a newer model after closing on one of my biggest real estate deals ever..............let me explain: There was thjis dumb gringo from USA who had more money and sense and he believed the whole world worked just like the good ol USA............he didnt have much of a grasp on geography and international affairs were not his thing BUT he had money to spend so he bought a big tract of land in Buenos Aires to develop a golf course and community of homes with a local partner. Trouble was he bought the land when everybody else was selling and clealry didnt understand business cycles so 1 year later there aint anybody intrested in buying his properties so we did a deal..............he quickly ran out of of cash and sold for half the price he paid for it .............of course he is blaming the government, etc but the dumb fuck just simply bought at the wrong time and wrong price............he didnt understand that things work differently down here. We are making so much money right now out of the oil and gas industry that its the best year in decades but the morons on this site continue to disbelieve...........I fully expect them to be buying and believing when everybody else is getting out and then start blaming the people, the country etc for their own lack of knowledge in international business. They need to go beyond just reading the headlines in Mercopress - hahahaha - dumb f***s LMFHO

    Feb 21st, 2014 - 02:36 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • CabezaDura2

    Its not as if I did not know you are paid to wright this junk here

    Feb 21st, 2014 - 05:07 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • yankeeboy

    26. Bahahaha you made my weekend.

    Feb 21st, 2014 - 05:56 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • ChrisR

    I have worked in the production side of the oil industry with off shore rigs feeding a shore based terminal.

    Some of the guys I knew must have been millionaires and yet NONE of them invested in the exploration side.

    I wonder why that is? I suspect it was because they knew what the real risk was to their money if they did so.

    Feb 22nd, 2014 - 11:19 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • El Diego

    Good for you and some of us a more conservative than others and prefer to wait and see rather then the more entreprenerial types like myself who are making a fortune whilst you all sit on the sidelines and follow the headlines form the news papers and criticize and disbelieve - but as usual you miss the point - Argentina already discovered one of the biggest shale fields ever and whilst we invested two years ago and already been laid back many times - as soon as you guys start to believe and perhaps investing it will be time for me to sell - sit on the sidelines for a while and then jump in when you lose your ass and start blaming the government, corruption, etc for your own ineptitude - LMFHO all the way to the bank

    Feb 22nd, 2014 - 12:50 pm - Link - Report abuse 0

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