(Argus, 28.Apr.2021) — Protesters in Argentina have lifted roadblocks that had crippled shale oil and gas activity and thwarted fuel distribution for almost three weeks. Healthcare workers started blocking roads around the Vaca Muerta shale patch in Neuquen province on 7 April in an effort to secure higher pay. They […]
Tag: Vaca Muerta
Argentina Ramping Up LNG Imports
(Natural Gas Intelligence, 26.Apr.2021) — Argentina has commissioned a second floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) to meet higher-than-expected natural gas demand this upcoming winter in the Southern Hemisphere. The country’s natural gas buyer, Integración Energética Argentina (Ieasa), has leased an Excelerate Energy LP FSRU for the Bahía Blanca port. […]
Protests Erode Argentina’s Shale Flow
(Argus, 21.Apr.2021) — Argentina’s shale oil and gas production is starting to decline and fuel shortages are worsening because of prolonged roadblocks by healthcare workers in Argentina’s southwestern province of Neuquen. The blockades, which started on 7 April and now number around 30, have led to production losses of some […]
Vaca Muerta Production Impacted By Neuquén Protests
(Energy Analytics Institute, 20.Apr.2021) — Oil and gas production from Argentina’s prolific Vaca Muerta formation have been impacted by nearly two weeks of protests and road blockages by health care workers seeking higher wages. Oil production in the region is initially down around 5,000 barrels per day while gas production […]
Argentina Prioritizing Oil Sector Legislation
(S&P Global, 15.Apr.2021) — Argentina’s government is making advances on drafting a bill to provide incentives for ramping up the country’s oil and natural gas production and exports, while more immediately seeking an agreement to end a protest stymieing activity in the Vaca Muerta shale play, Energy Secretary Dario Martinez […]
LatAm Briefs: Health Workers Protest In Argentina
(Energy Analytics Institute, 14.Apr.2021) — Energy briefs from the Latin America and Caribbean region including: Argentina’s Labor Ministry issuing a mandatory conciliation between oil workers and companies, companies in Argentina prepare to pay more for gas starting 1 May 2021, and health and social workers protest in Neuquén. Argentina’s Labor […]
Pampa To Start Producing Vaca Muerta Oil
(S&P Global, 14.Apr.2021) — Pampa Energia, the fifth-biggest natural gas producer in Argentina, is taking its first steps to produce oil from the Vaca Muerta shale play while also stepping up gas output on a bet that a rise in domestic and export demand and prices will improve profits, Horacio […]
Vaca Muerta Faces Production Decline
(S&P Global, 12.Apr.2021) — Argentina’s oil and natural gas output could begin to fall in the next few days if protesting health workers and truckers continue to block access to fields in Vaca Muerta, a shale play that has been driving growth, sources at two production companies there said April […]
Shell Updates On South American Assets In Annual Report
(Shell, 1.Apr.2021) — Shell provided details in its 2020 annual report related to its operations in South America from Argentina, Brazil and Bolivia. What follows is a summary from the report. South America Argentina We have more than 178 thousand net mineral acres in the Vaca Muerta Basin, a liquids- […]
LatAm Briefs: Point Lisas’ Slide, Añelo Petrol Station
(Energy Analytics Institute, 1.Apr.2021) — Energy briefs from the Latin America and Caribbean region including: halting the slide a Point Lisas in Trinidad and YPF inaugurating a new petrol station in Añelo in the heart of the Vaca Muerta formation. Point Lisas Slide Can Be Halted: Ramnarine “The slide of […]
LatAm Briefs: Argentine Wages Issues, Pereyra To Step Down
(Energy Analytics Institute, 31.Mar.2021) — Energy briefs from the Latin America and Caribbean region including: Argentine oil workers threaten to strike in Vaca Muerta over wages, and Argentine oil union head Guillermo Pereyra to finally step down. Oil Workers Threaten Strike In Vaca Muerta Over Wages Argentina’s oil union led […]
Neuquén Province Boosts Output In February 2021
(Energy Analytics Institute, 22.Mar.2021) — Argentina’s Neuquén province produced 178,349 barrels per day of oil in February 2021, up 3.22% sequentially and up 6.91% compared to February 2020. Approximately 80% of the production in February came from the Vaca Muerta formation, Neuquén governor Omar Gutiérrez said 22 March 2021 in […]
YPF Increases Diesel, Gasoline Prices
(Argus, 16.Mar.2021) — YPF, the biggest oil producer in Argentina, said March 16 that it hiked diesel and gasoline pump prices by 7%, helping to finance a $2.7 billion investment plan to boost crude output. The state-backed company said the increase took effect at the start of the day, adding […]
Argentina Torn Between Shale Dream And Climate Goals
(Bloomberg, 10.Mar.2021) — President Alberto Fernandez took to a makeshift stage in Argentina’s Vaca Muerta shale deposit in October to announce the nation was doubling down on fossil fuels. “Today we are relaunching the oil and gas economy,” he declared, starting with $5 billion of government subsidies. Two months later, […]
Argentina’s Shale Ambitions Hang In Balance
(Bloomberg, 18.Feb.2021) — YPF SA, Argentina’s state-run oil company, needs to come up with more than $1 billion to spur drilling in Patagonia, where it’s leading development of the biggest shale patch outside the U.S. It’s not going to be easy. YPF restructured bonds last week to free up money […]
YPF Sweetens $6.2 Bln Debt Deal Again After Offer Fails
(Reuters, 8.Feb.2021) — Argentine state energy giant YPF made a last-ditch improvement to its $6.2 billion debt restructuring offer to creditors late on Sunday and extended the deadline after the majority of bondholders knocked back an earlier proposal. The firm, which spearheads development of the South American nation’s huge Vaca […]
Vaca Muerta Now Producing At Record Levels
(Rystad, 3.Feb.2021) — The oil production decline that the Covid-19 pandemic brought to Argentina’s Vaca Muerta formation now seems like a distant memory. The reserve’s oil output has not only rebounded to pre-pandemic levels but also reached a record high of 124,000 barrels per day (bpd) in December 2020, a […]
Argentina’s Escobar Terminal To Reopen
(S&P Global Platts, 1.Feb.2021) — A federal judge in Argentina has lifted a more than three-month suspension of the country’s only floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) after the government warned of natural gas shortages if LNG imports were hindered. The FSRU, which is docked in Escobar, a district up […]
YPF Bonds Rally After Sweetened Debt Offer
(Bloomberg, 26.Jan.2021) — Bonds of Argentine oil producer YPF SA climbed to a three-week high after the company improved a $6 billion restructuring offer. Stocks also jumped. YPF’s $540 million in securities due March 2025 rose almost 6 cents and shares rose as much as 9.3% after the state-controlled firm […]
Driller Stuns Creditors As Argentina’s Dollars Dwindle
(Bloomberg, 19.Jan.2021) — In the 99 years since it was founded to pump the oil fields of Patagonia, Argentine energy driller YPF SA has been whipsawed by countless booms and busts. If global oil markets weren’t collapsing, it seemed, then Argentina was mired in a debt crisis that was wreaking havoc on […]
Argentina Draws 16 Bids For Subsidized Gas Supply
(Argus, 3.Dec.2020) — Argentina received bids from 16 companies in a path-breaking auction to supply more than 70mn m3/d of natural gas at subsidized wellhead prices for power generation in 2021-24. The bids ranged from $2.40/mn Btu to $3.66/mn Btu, coming in below the maximum price of $3.70/mn Btu. Bids […]
YPF Reports $482mn Net Loss In 3Q:20
(Energy Analytics Institute, 11.Nov.2020) — Argentina’s state-controlled YPF announced operating and financial results for the third quarter of 2020. What follows is a summary of key data. MAIN HIGHLIGHTS OF 3Q:20 — Revenues rose 19.5% sequentially on the back of a significant recovery in fuels´ sales and stabilization in oil […]
Neuquén Targets 80 Rigs By March 2021: Gutiérrez Says
(Energy Analytics Institute, 22.Oct.2020) — Argentina’s Neuquén Province Governor Omar Gutiérrez said joint work by companies and workers will allow the region to achieve a growth path that will allow drilling activity to recover to the levels exhibited before the pandemic. The official said approximately 80 rigs are projected to […]
Fernandez Announces Details Of Gas Plan 4
(Energy Analytics Institute, 15.Oct.2020) — Argentina’s President Alberto Fernández announced details of the country’s Gas Plan 4 during a visit to the Vaca Muerta formation. The gas plan aims to replace a good part of imported liquids with national gas production, generating estimated savings of $2.574bn over its four years […]
Eleven Rigs Reactivated In The Vaca Muerta In Neuquén
(Energy Analytics Institute, 3.Oct.2020) — Argentina’s Neuquén Ministry of Energy data reveal 11 drilling rigs have been reactivated in the province, and all targeting the Vaca Muerta formation. Of the 11: three were recently incorporated by YPF, two by Shell, which was the first company to return, two by Pan […]
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 […]
YPF To Restart Shale Drilling In Argentina
(Argus, 4.Sep.2020) — Argentina’s state-controlled YPF will resume drilling activity in the country’s Vaca Muerta shale formation after an almost six-month pause resulting from pandemic restrictions. YPF will begin operating two drilling rigs in Vaca Muerta over the next two weeks, chief executive Sergio Affronti said today. The rigs will […]
Argentina Puts Priority On Boosting Oil, Gas Exports
(S&P Global Platts, 28.Aug.2020) — Argentina’s new energy secretary Dario Martinez plans to promote oil and natural gas production with a view to increasing exports as part of a strategy to pull the economy out of one of its worst crises on record, he said Aug. 27. Martinez, who took […]
Argentina’s Shale Province Predicts Slow Recovery
(Argus, 25.Aug.2020) — Argentina’s Vaca Muerta shale patch will take 12-18 months to resume pre-Covid-19 activity because of lagging demand, according to Alejandro Monteiro, energy minister of Neuquen province. “We believe it will take a while for fuel demand to fully recover,” Monteiro said in an industry webinar yesterday. Many […]
Exxon Gets Concession For Los Toldos II Oeste Oil Block
(Zacks Equity Research, 19.Aug.2020) — Exxon Mobil Corporation was recently granted concession by the Neuquen provincial government for exploratory activities in another block, Los Toldos II Oeste, in the prolific Vaca Muerta shale play in Argentina, as said by the government of Neuquen. The 35-year concession has called for a […]
ExxonMobil Secures Another LT Vaca Muerta Concession
(Argus, 14.Aug.2020) — ExxonMobil has been awarded a 35-year concession for another block in Vaca Muerta, a massive shale play that has been driving the company’s growth in oil and natural gas production in Argentina. The government of Neuquen, a southwestern province where most of the play is located, said […]
Shell Argentina CEO Sean Rooney’s EconoJournal Q&A
(Energy Analytics Institute, 4.Aug.2020) — Shell Argentina President Sean Rooney discussed his company’s operations in Argentina amid the Covid-19 pandemic, including commenting on continued and future development of the Vaca Muerta shale formation. “A lot of economic recuperation post-Covid will come from industry pressures to accelerate the change of energy […]
Fernandez To Creditors: ‘We Can’t Do Any More’
(FT.com, 19.Jul.2020) —Alberto Fernández, Argentina’s president, has made an impassioned appeal for the world to accept that — with an economy devastated by coronavirus — he cannot budge from his final offer to restructure $65bn of foreign debt. Weighed down by $323bn of borrowing, Argentina was already in a deep […]
Argentina Axes $2bn Vaca Muerta Gas Pipeline
(Energy Analytics Institute, 15.Jul.2020) — The Vaca Muerta gas pipeline, one of the most ambitious projects of the government of Argentina’s former President Mauricio Macri, was suspended indefinitely by Energy Secretariat Sergio Lanziani, according to details published by local media outlet Clarín. Work on the pipeline would have seen it […]
Will Argentina’s Oil Industry Survive This Crisis?
(Oilprice.com, 6.Jul.2020) — Throughout the 2010s Argentina’s shale deposits were universally listed alongside the US shale gale, denoting the many similarities Vaca Muerta shares with Eagle Ford in particular and Texas’ shale deposits in general. Providing another layer to the juxtaposition, Argentina’s shale-rich Neuquen Province has historically been the main […]
Argentina’s Subsidy Not Enough To Boost Production
(GlobalData, 29.Jun.2020) — Adrian Lara, Senior Oil & Gas Analyst at GlobalData, commented on announcements from Argentina’s government to implement a new plan for subsidizing oil and gas production in face of the current Covid-19 crisis. “The impact of COVID-19 in Argentina has resulted in lower oil refining inputs and […]
Argentina Puts Damper On Oil Demand, Production
(S&P Global Platts, 26.Jun.2020) — Argentina has extended a 99-day-old economic lockdown for three more weeks to try to contain a surge in coronavirus cases, including by tightening restrictions on people’s movements in densely populated parts of the country, a decision seen as cutting oil demand and production that had […]
YPF Issues Force Majeure Notice On Tango FLNG
(Reuters, 26.Jun.2020) — Belgian shipping company Exmar has said that it had received a force majeure notice from Argentine oil company YPF SA under charter and services deals for the Tango floating export project. “YPF claims that effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic both worldwide and in Argentina have hindered […]
Argentina Weighs New Price Subsidy, Freezes Gas Tariffs
(WoodMac, 24.Jun.2920) — Gas pricing and market regulation are again under discussion in Argentina. The coronavirus pandemic has weakened an already vulnerable economy, with the impact felt in the gas market. To maintain low gas prices for end-users, the new administration has imposed a tariff freeze until the end of […]
Shell Suspends Vaca Muerta Ops After Seismic Activity
(Reuters, 7.Jun.2020) — Oil company Royal Dutch Shell Plc said it has suspended operations at its Bajada de Añelo site in Argentina’s Vaca Muerta area after seismic activity in the region. “We are evaluating the information available and the evolution of the situation over the weekend to decide on Monday […]
Argentina Sets Oil At $45/bbl To Shield Domestic Sector
(Reuters, 19.May.2020) — Argentina’s government set the local crude oil reference price at $45 per barrel on Tuesday in a bid to protect the country’s hard-hit sector from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and low global prices. Reuters reported in April that Argentina was planning to set a higher […]
Argentina Set $45/bbl Reference Oil Price
(S&P Global Platts, 18.May.2020) — Argentina’s move to set a $45/b domestic crude oil reference price this week has brought cheer to some oil producers, but analysts say it may take a couple of years to rebuild production, following its plunge in April, as companies keep to the sidelines because […]
Argentina: Unconventional Activity Update
(IHS, 12.May.2020) — The year 2020 has been filled with surprises as the COVID-19 pandemic spreads worldwide, leaving many homebound, resulting in a negative impact for many industries and ultimately leading to a decline in oil and gas demand across the globe. The pandemic paired with a supply surplus has […]
Argentina Considers $45/bbl Floor For Domestic Crude
(Bloomberg, 7.May.2020) — West Texas Intermediate has been gaining since its history-making crash in the U.S. last month, trading at around $25. Brent crude has been practically soaring, touching $30 in London. They can’t match the criollo barrel in Argentina, though — $45 guaranteed, no matter what. That dream price […]
YPF Names New CEO As Vaca Muerta Faces Setback
(Upstream, 1.May.2020) — Argentine oil company YPF has appointed industry veteran Sergio Affronti as chief executive, replacing Daniel Gonzalez, amid headwinds from the coronavirus pandemic and the collapse in oil prices. Affronti built his career in Argentine oilfields in the Mendoza and Neuquen provinces, and in the Gulf of San […]
TGS Files 2019 Annual Report On Form 20-F
(TGS, 29.Apr.2020) — Transportadora de Gas del Sur S.A. today it filed its annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 (the “2019 Annual Report”) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). The 2019 Annual Report can be accessed by visiting the Company’s […]
Argentina Plans Higher Local Oil Price
(Reuters, 23.Apr.2020) — Argentina plans to issue a decree setting a higher local oil barrel price to protect the domestic industry from being further decimated by a collapse in global prices and slumping fuel demand due to the coronavirus pandemic, two industry sources told Reuters on Thursday. The locally-set oil […]
Argentina’s Shale Boom On Hold As Oil Prices Collapse
(Oilprice.com, 10.Apr.2020) — Argentina’s state-held energy firm YPF slashed by 50 percent the oil production from its key development area in the vast Vaca Muerta shale play this week due to tumbling fuel demand in Argentina’s lockdown, local news outlet Rio Negro reports. Fuel demand in Argentina, under lockdown since […]
YPF Slashes Vaca Muerta Output: Rio Negro Reports
(Reuters, 9.Apr.2020) — Argentine state energy firm YPF has cut production by around half at its giant Vaca Muerta shale development Loma Campana due to a slump in demand amid the global coronavirus pandemic and a nationwide lockdown, local media reported on Thursday. Loma Campana is the most important development […]