YPF, the largest oil and natural gas producer in Argentina, is focusing on shale oil for production growth as a glut slows natural gas output, managers at the state-backed company said Friday.
Vaca Muerta, the biggest shale play in Argentina, led a year-on-year increase in oil and natural gas production in 2018 in Neuquen, as more companies bet on the resources for growth in the southwestern province.
The US Supreme Court will hear this Friday an appeal against an intermediate court decision accepting jurisdiction over Argentina and its majority state-owned oil giant YPF, in a case relating to YPF’s 2012 re-nationalization by Argentina, then under the rule of ex-president Cristina Fernandez.
The Paraguay group Delta Patagonia has signed an agreement with Argentina's managed oil company YPF for the acquisition of 124 gas stations in 17 provinces. The service stations will now operate under the brand Gulf Combustibles.
A major group of indigenous people living in Argentine Patagonia are taking some of the world's biggest oil and gas multinationals to court for environmental contamination, Greenpeace said this week. The Mapuche are suing American giant Exxon, French company Total and the Argentina-based Pan American Energy, which is part-owned by BP.
Argentina's state-run energy company YPF and Malaysia's Petronas agreed this week to invest US$ 2.3 billion in a shale oil project in Vaca Muerta, with a target of reaching 60,000 b/d of oil equivalent by 2022. The investment will be in La Amarga Chica, where the companies have been testing the shale oil potential since 2015 and have spent US$ 550 million to date in the process, YPF said in a statement.
Argentina's energy company YPF said on Monday its 2018 hydrocarbon production likely will fall by 3% to 4% on the year, more than previously expected, as low natural gas demand forces it to close wells and shift its focus to Vaca Muerta shale oil.
Argentina's state-controlled oil company, YPF, will significantly boost oil and gas production, investing between US$4 and US$ 5 billion per year through 2022, Chief Executive Daniel Gonzalez said. The plan is to raise production by between 5and 7% per year, with the largest increase in the Vaca Muerta formation, one of the world's largest reserves of shale oil and gas.
Argentina's biggest natural gas transporter, Transportadora de Gas del Sur, and Texas-based Excelerate Energy, signed on Monday a memorandum of understanding to evaluate building the country's first liquefaction plant, as rising natural gas production fuels export prospects.
Argentina re-launched a one-year-old agreement between the government, companies and workers to drive competition and spur development in the Vaca Muerta shale play, the government said in a statement.