Argentina Key Projects and Business Highlights
Argentina is one these countries with oil and gas reserves among the largest in the world but have hard to stand self-sufficient in energy.
Since 2007, the export tax scheme for oil and gas was conceived primarily to allocate the local production to the domestic market before exporting elsewhere.
In doing so Argentina could maintain locally low prices for energy against the global market prices.
But the consequence has been that all the companies operating in Argentina stopped investing to maintain the production from the existing fields.
With the natural depletion of the fields, the production has declined, as in May 2013 by 2.6%, while demand has continued to rise.
Since January 2013, the Government published new export tax regulation to motivate the foreign companies to invest again in Argentina with first positive effects appearing in the projects described below.
Schlumberger and Baker Hugues to lead exploration
When Repsol–YPF discovered in 2011 the potential reserves of the Vaca Muerta in tight oil and Los Toldos and Totoral permits, it sent the signal to all the 50 companies having licenses in Argentina to drill more and to take their chance at the benefits of Schlumberger and Baker Hugues in the lead of the exploration services.
Chevron to build shale pilot in Neuquen Province
The California-based super major Chevron Corporation (Chevron) and YPF fromArgentina signed Heads of Agreement to spent $1.24 billion capital expenditure to explore and develop the shale oil and gas in the Vaca Muerta Basin within the Neuquen Province in Argentina.
Chevron is operating in Argentina for many years where it produces currently 21,000 barrels of crude oil and 4 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.
YPF and Chevron signed MOU in unconventionals
YPF SA (YPF) the Argentina’s national oil company and the international oil company Chevron Corporation (Chevron) signed a memorandum of understanding to explore and develop the local unconventional resources in oil and gas.
YPF and Bridas signed $1.5 billion deal in Vaca Muerta
As a result of the new oil export tax system, the national oil company YPF and Bridas Corporation (Bridas) signed a Farm-in agreement to explore and develop 663 square kilometers of oil shale fields in the Loma la Lata and Loma la Campana of the Vaca Muerta.
Dow Chemical to invest upstream in Argentina
The Dow Chemical Company (Dow) from USA and the Argentina national oil company YPF signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to develop shale gas in the giant deposit of the Vaca Muerta in the eastern Province of Neuquen.
For Dow, the control of the natural gas supply is a vital parameter of its competitiveness within the hydrocarbon-based chemical industry.
