Argentine President Alberto Fernández Thursday launched the Néstor Kirchner gas pipeline project during a ceremony at the Loma Campana field in Vaca Muerta, province of Neuquén.
By Haley Zaremba, Oilprice.com – A fuel shortage is causing political turmoil and social unrest in Argentina, and could even result in a food shortage as the South American nation’s grain transporters call or a strike in the face of sky-high fuel prices during the harvest season for soy and corn.
Argentina is on the world's top short list of countries with the largest reserves of gas, but given its political chaos, rabid nationalism and constant changes to the rules of the game, investors remain shy and Argentina will have to prepare for a cold austral winter and even fuel rationing as it's already happening with diesel, desperately needed to harvest summer crops and prepare the soil for summer sowing.
In the last month of 2021, Argentina has recorded a total oil output of around 559,000 barrels per day (BPD), thus reaching the highest production for the country over the past nine years, it was reported Thursday.
Two shipments of Vaca Muerta crude oil carrying around 490,000 barrels each from Puerto Rosales to Porto Alegre in Brazil represent a sizeable increase in exports from the Neuquén Basin, it was reported.
Argentina's Energy Ministry has ruled that energy exports to Brazil will finance the Vaca Muerta gas pipeline and electrical transportation works, it was announced Tuesday.
Argentina's output of crude oil has reached an unprecedented 532,566 barrels per day in September 2021, according to a report released Friday by the private firm Regional Investment Consulting (Ricsa), thus surpassing the previous highest mark of 528,782 bpds from March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out.
Thanks to the increasing output from Vaca Muerta, the Argentine province of Neuquén Thursday announced it had extracted an average of 213,808 barrels per day (BPD) during September of 2021, which represented a 40.19% increase against last year's figures.
Puerto Rosales in the Argentine city of Punta Alta continues to consolidate itself as the main point of exit of crude oil from Vaca Muerta, having dispatched so far 900,000 tons in 2021.
Argentina is now in a position to sell gas to neighbouring Chile and Brazil thanks to the Gas Plan and Vaca Muerta's potential, it was announced.