By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com – Holding some of the largest shale oil and gas reserves in the world, Argentina is often cited as the likely candidate for the next big shale boom, and Vaca Muerta is often described as having the potential to be South America’s Permian basin.
Argentine President Alberto Fernandez will send a bill to Congress to attract investment for the production of conventional and unconventional hydrocarbons, a spokesman for the Production Development ministry said.
Argentina's hydrocarbons company YPF is facing a fresh lawsuit in the United States, this time for US$14bn, which is twice the market value of the state oil firm, over alleged corporate restructuring that the company was said to have carried out several years ago.
Canadian exploration and production company PentaNova Energy announced it signed a final farm-in agreement with Argentine energy company YPF for a further 11% stake in the Llancanelo oilfield, reports Buenos Aires media.
Argentina's state-controlled energy company YPF has unveiled a US$ 30bn five-year investment plan to boost oil production and sharpen its focus on electric power generation. Some US$21.5bn will come from YPF's own coffers, with the remainder to be sourced from its project partners, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.
Norway's Statoil, STO and YPF announced an agreement to explore hydrocarbons in the Vaca Muerta shale. Under the terms of the agreement, Statoil will enter the Bajo del Toro license block with a 50% interest. YPF will retain a 50% share and will remain the operator.
BP unit and subsidiaries of France’s Total and Germany’s Wintershall have signed an investment agreement with Argentina’s state-run oil company YPF to jointly invest US$1.15 billion in the Vaca Muerta shale formation in Argentina.
Oil and gas production in Argentina has fallen to 1981 levels, the lowest in 25 years, despite a $14 million government subsidy for the first five months of this year. From last year to May 2017, the country has produced 2,311,736 m3 of oil and just under 3.8 billion m3 of gas, which shows a drop of 6% and 1.8% respectively.
Argentina's oil corporation YPF plans to match United States costs in developing non conventional energy, by the end of 2018. This refers to the very rich shale deposits of Vaca Muerta, with a target of 10 dollars per barrel and for this purpose it has started a program of experimental drillings.
Argentina's state-run oil firm YPF expects a 3% decline in crude and natural gas output this year due to labor problems and bad weather, Chief Financial Officer Daniel Gonzalez told investors during a conference call in Buenos Aires.