(Baker Institute, 17.Aug.2021) — Shale oil’s short-cycle production protects foreign investors from the risk of expropriation — government taking private property for public use — providing an opportunity for the increasingly risk-averse global petroleum industry, according to a new report. The paper, “Shale Renders the ‘Obsolescing Bargain’ Obsolete: Political risk […]
Tag: Mauricio Macri
LatAm Briefs: Argentina’s IMF Payments, Odebrecht Arrest Warrants
(Energy Analytics Institute, 30.Mar.2021) — Energy briefs from the Latin America and Caribbean region including: Argentina only paying the IMF around $3.1bn in interest and arrest warrants being issued for three former Odebrecht executives. Argentina Has Only Paid The IMF $3.1bn In Interest Argentina has paid the International Monetary Fund […]
Investors Pull Plug On Argentina’s Prized Shale Play
(Oilprice.com, 19.Sep.2020) — Much ink has been spilled about the downfall and dubious recovery of the United States shale oil sector. The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude benchmark’s dramatic rock bottom in April, which saw oil prices plunge to nearly $40 dollars below zero in a jaw-dropping first, a flurry […]
The Threat Of Oil Nationalism In Argentina
(Oilprice.com, 6.Sep.2020) — Latin America has a long history of resource nationalism, particularly when it comes to petroleum. Since the end of World War Two, this has acted as a significant deterrent for international energy majors seeking to invest in the region’s vast hydrocarbon potential. This is being amplified by […]
Argentina Extends Diesel, Gasoline Frice Freeze
(Argus, 30.Jan.2020) — Argentina’s government said Thursday it has extended a freeze on diesel and gasoline prices until the end of February, as it tries to reel in one of the highest inflation rates in the world. The freeze had been due to end Friday, but the country’s president, Alberto […]
Vista, YPF Win Vaca Muerta Licenses
(S&P Global Platts, 3.Dec.2019) — Argentina’s Neuquen province awarded development licenses to Vista Oil & Gas and YPF in Vaca Muerta, a giant shale play that has seen investment and production growth slow this year on economic and political uncertainty. Mexico City-based Vista won a license to develop Aguila Mora […]
Producers Delay Boosting Vaca Muerta Output
(S&P Global Platts, 20.Nov.2019) — Three leading oil companies in Argentina, buoyed by the quality of the shale resources, are ready to ramp up oil and natural gas production in Vaca Muerta, but they are holding back until the economic and energy policies of the incoming government are more clear, […]
Maduro Pledges Funds For Shipyard In Argentina
(Reuters, Luc Cohen, 3.Nov.2019) — Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Sunday pledged funds for a state-owned Argentine shipyard to finish building two long- overdue tankers for state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, which is struggling with a diminished tanker fleet. Maduro, a socialist who has overseen a drastic economic collapse […]
Argentina Reinforces Security Of Vaca Muerta
(Reuters, 16.Sep.2019) — The Argentine government will step up security in the Vaca Muerta oil fields by placing the shale formation under the jurisdiction of the military police, the Ministry of Security said on Monday. Vaca Muerta is viewed as a key source of foreign exchange for Argentina´s struggling economy […]
Argentina Pursues $5bn LNG Project Amid Political Havoc
(Bloomberg, Jonathan Gilbert, 4.Sep.2019) — Argentina’s state-run oil company, YPF SA, is pushing ahead with plans to build a $5 billion natural gas export terminal despite the political and financial chaos racking the nation. The driller, which has led development of the nation’s Vaca Muerta shale trove, is in talks […]
Argentina Seeks To Stabilize Peso As Oil Companies Fret About Price Freeze
(S&P Global Platts, 20.Aug.2019) — Argentina’s newly installed economy minister, Hernan Lacunza, said Tuesday he will focus on stabilizing the currency as the key to pulling the country’s economy out of recession and reducing inflation, yet he will face pressure from oil companies who are concerned that a 90-day freeze […]
Argentina Enforces Fuel Price Caps
(Argus, 16.Aug.2019) — The price cap takes effect immediately, according to a decree published in the Official Bulletin, the newspaper of record. The downstream sector must keep oil product prices at the same levels as August 9 in all outlets, including retail and wholesale, through November 15, the decree states. […]
Argentina Caps Oil Prices By Decree
(Argus, 16.Aug.2019) — Argentina implemented a three-month freeze on fuel and crude prices through an emergency decree, eschewing an earlier plan to apply a decades-old law that was designed to avoid shortages. The decree specifies that refiners and hydrocarbon producers must fulfill all existing domestic demand during the period when […]
Argentina’s Opposition Primary Win May Put Energy Investment On Hold
(S&P Global Platts, 12.Aug.2019) — Argentina’s leading opposition coalition, a left-wing populist alliance that ruled the country from 2003-15, swept the national primaries Sunday, putting it in the running to win the October 27 general election and damp investment in the oil and natural gas sector. Frente de Todos, led […]
Argentina Gas Output At Highest Point In 11 years
(Energy Analytics Institute, Aaron Simonsky, 29.Jul.2019) — Production of crude oil and natural gas in Argentina continues to rise, aided by growth in unconventional volumes from the Vaca Muerta formation. Highlights: — Gas production in June 2019 rose 5.8% compared to June 2018; reaches highest point since September 2008 — […]
YPF Nationalization Trial To Continue In The U.S.
(Energy Analytics Institute, Aaron Simonsky, 24.Jun.2019) — The U.S. Supreme Court of Justice dealt another blow to the strategy of the government of Argentina’s President Mauricio Macri when it deactivated the multi million-dollar demand from Burford Capital for the nationalization of YPF; thus, giving a definite green light for the […]
June 9 Provincial Election In Chubut, Argentina’s No. 2 Petro-Province
(Baker Institute, Mark P. Jones, 30.May.2019) — Chubut will elect its governor and the members of its provincial legislature for four-year terms on June 9. The pragmatic centrist Peronist governor (Mariano Arcioni) is heavily favored to win re-election, but there still exists an outside chance that a more left-wing Peronist […]
Argentina’s Financial Crisis Creates An Opportunity For China
(Bloomberg, Jonathan Gilbert 21.May.2019) — A pair of dams going up in Patagonia is a testament to Beijing’s growing influence. Set on a remote steppe in Patagonia, where the winds howl and guanacos bound through the brush, the twin dams on the Santa Cruz River are in the early stages […]
Argentina’s Economic Crisis Threatens To Stall Vaca Muerta
(Petroleum Economist, Charles Waine, 14.May.2019) — Argentina’s hope of fast-tracking production from its vast Vaca Muerta shale play, the world’s second largest by output, could be delayed as the country adapts to recession. Last year, Argentina was forced to seek a $57bn bailout package from the IMF — the largest-ever […]
Bolivia Eyes Exporting LNG Through Argentina, Importing Crude
(S&P Global Platts, 22.Apr.2019) — Bolivia is looking at exporting natural gas globally through liquefaction terminals to be built in Argentina, and to buy crude from its southern neighbor, Bolivian President Evo Morales said Monday, a move that would compensate for dwindling sales of its main export to Argentina and […]
Argentina’s Incumbent Political Party Wins Rio Negro Oil Province Election
(S&P Global Platts, 8.Apr.2019) — The incumbent political party in Rio Negro, an oil province in Argentina, won the re-election on Sunday; a result that could favor President Mauricio Macri’s chance for a second term in October, allowing him to press ahead with measures and policies driving a recovery in […]
Tecpetrol Says Resolution 46 Covers Entire Fortin de Piedra Gas Project
(Energy Analytics Institute, Aaron Simonsky, 1.Apr.2019) — Tecpetrol, the oil and gas affiliate of Techint, considers that a resolution emitted by Argentina’s Finance Ministry rejects the appeal presented for incorrect liquidation of benefits offered by the country’s gas subsidy, officially Resolution 46/17, the company announced in a post on its […]
Government’s Adjustment Plan For Vaca Muerta Puts Conflict On The Horizon
(Buenos Aires Times, Jairo Straccia, 2.Feb.2019) — Despite all the smiling photos taken in the past showing President Mauricio Macri and Techint CEO Paolo Rocca together (even at the height of the now infamous “cuadernos” notebooks corruption scandal), and despite the holding group’s Tecpetrol oil division being the biggest investor […]
Argentine Leader Sees Tough Road Ahead
(AP, 5.Dec.2018) — Argentina’s president is celebrating the successful hosting of the Group of 20 summit, but he said Monday that he is ready for tough times ahead as his country confronts its economic crisis. President Mauricio Macri told The Associated Press in an interview that he took pride in […]
Argentina Awaits Hydrocarbon Investments Of Nearly $13 Billion in 2019
(Energy Analytics Institute, Aaron Simonsky, 8.Nov.2018) — Argentine hydrocarbon investments are projected to increase in 2019 compared to 2018, announced the country’s Energy Secretary Javier Iguacel. “This year they invested $9 billion in oil and gas. Next year we expect investments of $13 billion and double the amount of equipment […]
Argentina Aims To Cover 20% Of Energy Demand in 2025 With Renewables
(Energy Analytics Institute, Aaron Simonsky, 8.Nov.2018) — Argentina’s shale boom taking place in the Vaca Muerta formation in Neuquen will not stop the country from pursuing goals related to renewable energies. “We set out to promote renewable energies and assume a very specific commitment,” Argentina’s Treasury reported in an official […]
Argentina Restarts Natural Gas Exports To Chile
(Reuters, Dave Sherwood, 30.Oct.2018) — Argentina has begun exporting natural gas to Chile after a 12 year interlude, Chilean President Sebastian Pinera said on Tuesday, as the two South American neighbors seek to increasingly integrate their energy supply and electricity grids. The unconventional gas is being piped from Argentina’s oil- […]
Trump Talks Tough On Venezuela, But Imports Ever More Venezuelan Oil
(Miami Herald, Andres Oppenheimer, 17.Oct.2018) — There is a major inconsistency in President Trump’s stand on Venezuela: He talks tough — and even makes veiled threats of a military intervention in that country. But at the same time, he steadfastly refuses to cut U.S. imports of Venezuelan oil, which are […]
Argentina’s Conventional Oil and Gas Attract Explorers
(Ft.com, Charles Newberry, 23.Sep.2019) — Fresh discovery indicates life beyond Vaca Muerta. A few years ago, when the giant shale play of Vaca Muerta was starting to lure oil majors such as Chevron, ExxonMobil and Shell to Argentina’s south-west, a small company called Roch struck oil far away at the […]
Argentine President Inaugurates Biogas-Fueled Electric Plant
(Efe, 14.Sep.2018) — President Mauricio Macri inaugurated on Friday a biogas-fueled electric plant in the Argentine province of Cordoba that he said will supply energy to 12,000 households and generate “quality jobs.” “A country can’t grow without energy,” he said during the ceremony at the plant in Rio Cuarto, which […]
Argentina Re-ignites Labor Deal to Spur Investment in Vaca Muerta
(Reuters, Eliana Raszewski, 28.Aug.2018) — Argentina relaunched a one-year-old agreement between the government, companies and workers on Tuesday to drive competition and spur development in the Vaca Muerta shale play, the government said in a statement. The original agreement, signed just over a year ago, sought to boost production by […]
Argentina Gas Auctions to Begin in August
(Reuters, 19.Jul.2018) – Argentina’s electricity generators will be able to begin bidding for their natural gas supply beginning in August, President Mauricio Macri said, as the country gradually moves away from controls on energy markets. The change comes as rising output in the Vaca Muerta shale play moves the country […]
Argentina Affirms Liberalization Of Fuels Market
(Institute of the Americas, Jeremy Martin, 11.Jul.2018) – Directly answering a question during an interview in a local media program about the issue of fuels market and pricing, newly-installed Energy Minister Javier Iguacel said: “There is no restriction. There is a free market.” The statement, on its face, does not […]
Free Oil Market to Reign in Argentina
(Bloomberg, 2.Jul.2018) – Argentina’s move to a free market for energy prices remains on track. A recent decision to cap crude oil prices and limit fuel price gains in order to stem inflation was an outlier, according to Javier Iguacel, the nation’s new energy minister. Restricting crude price increases only […]
Argentina to Free Retail Fuel Prices
(Reuters, Luc Cohen, 1.Jul.2018) – Argentina will allow fuel retailers to freely set pump prices starting in August, according to an Energy Ministry official familiar with the plan, a move that could encourage badly needed investment in the nation’s oil patch but risks worsening sky-high inflation and angering consumers. Separately, […]
Tecpetrol to Invest $2.3 Bln in Vaca Muerta
(Reuters, Eliana Raszewski, 23.Mar.2017) — Argentina’s Tecpetrol, part of the Techint Group, said on Thursday it would invest $2.3 billion in the Vaca Muerta shale fields through 2019, the largest announcement in the formation in years. Tecpetrol said in a statement the investment was made possibly due to measures from […]
ExxonMobil to Invest $10 Billion In Vaca Muerta
(Energy Analytics Institute, Jared Yamin, 3.Jun.2016) – U.S.-based ExxonMobil plans to invest $10 billion over the next 20 years in the Vaca Muerta area in Argentina. The announcement was made by ExxonMobil President Rex Tillerson during a visit the Vaca Muerta area in Neuquén with Argentine President Mauricio Macri, reported […]
Argentina to Pay Galuccio $72 Mln Pesos to Leave YPF
(Energy Analytics Institute, Jared Yamin, 5.May.2016) – The government of President Mauricio Macri will pay 72 million Argentine pesos to Miguel Galuccio as part of an offer to the executive to depart the company. Board of Director members with YPF, controlled 51 percent by the government, came to agreement at […]