The future of Vaca Muerta, the development of offshore and greater investment in infrastructure are the main issues that concern businessmen in the hydrocarbon sector today.
This was talked about during the IX Strategic Seminar organized by the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) where the main industry leaders made clear the projections in Argentina in terms of development, production, transportation and export of hydrocarbons, differentiating strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and threats.
Under the motto““The relevance of gas and oil in the development of the Argentine Republic”,The event emphasized issues related to the enormous potential of Vaca Muerta and the challenge of converting it into more production and more reserves, the importance of exploration and current off-shore developments in Argentina; in the revitalization of mature conventional deposits; in public policies and infrastructure to encourage investments in the hydrocarbon area and in the fundamental role of hydrocarbons in the energy transition.
The Minister of Infrastructure of the province of Neuqun, Rubén Etcheverry spoke about the upcoming energy agenda that today is focused on four key aspects: Vaca Muerta Net Zero, infrastructure for exports, the Incentive Regime for Large Investments and financing for projects.
In this sense, the official referred to the transversality of infrastructure as the key to access export markets, favoring investments in Oil & Gas.
In the panel on unconventional deposits, in general terms The businessmen agreed that to enable the takeoff of Vaca Muerta and contribute to the development of the country’s economy, there are today three key factors related to productivity, costs and human resources.
Guillermina SagastiVice President of Development and Manager of Geosciences and Unconventional Deposits at YPF, stated that the oil company’s growth in Vaca Muerta was strongly leveraged by the development in three blocks within the Neuquén basin: Loma Campana (in association with Chevron); Bandurra Azul (with Equinor) and Amarga Chica (associated with Petronas).
The executive pointed out that today the company is focused on the development of shale oil, with a production of 206 thousand barrels per day, more than 1,000 active wells, and in gas they exceed 16 million cubic meters per day.
In the chapter on offshore, the businessmen explained the status of the Argerichin which the consortium made up of the oil companies YPF, Equinor and Shell participate.
Sector sources assure that if hydrocarbons are found in successful quantities, additional new wells will be drilled. They also estimate that it could take approximately 10 years to produce the first barrel. And they point out that all production will be destined for the export market.
The exploratory studies carried out so far in Argerich showed that this first project will have an estimated potential production of 250,000 barrels per day.
