In Dead cowthe objective is the extraction of shale oil and gas, trapped in rocks more than 3,000 meters deepwhich is done through the injection of water, sand and chemical compounds under pressure, to generate fractures in the rocks and allow hydrocarbons to escape to the surface.
In the year-on-year comparison, the new historical mark shows a growth of 5.16%, but it is more remarkable if the new value is compared with the previous month, since in April 906 fracture stages had been completed, with which the month-on-month jump is a surprising 30.24%.
This historical level of activity occurred as a result of the work carried out by eight production companies and the five special service companies.
As usual, YPF was the company that carried out the most fracture stages in the month with a total of 384. Shell was in second place with 187 stages carried out, followed by ExxonMobil, which stepped on the accelerator and carried out 177 punctures.
Vista was placed in fourth place with 122 fracturing stages carried out in May, followed by Tecpetrol with 115 and Pluspetrol with 76. And ending with Pan American Energy (PAE) with 72 and Phoenix Global Resources (PGR) with 47.
This high level of activity marked a complex and hyperdynamic work of the eight fracture sets that exist in Vaca Muerta and that correspond to the firms Halliburton, Schlumberger, Calfrac, Tenaris and Weatherford.
But it was also possible because YPF once again bet on carrying out simul fracs, which is the simultaneous fracturing of two wells, which during the past month allowed 36 of the 1,180 punctures to be carried out.
The reasons for the record
The factors that led to this new record being set are two. On the one hand, there is the activity in the oil segment that is encouraged by the high prices that are achieved in the export market.
The existence of exportable balances from the higher production of Vaca Muerta, allows companies to access a difference of more than 30 dollars per barrel, given that in the external market, Argentine light oil is priced at 95 dollars, while the one sent to the local refineries is placed in the best of the cases in 65 dollars.
This increase in oil production materializes in these months as a result of the fact that the concession company of the crude oil transportation system, Oldelval, recently completed the expansion of transportation capacity, adding a quota of 50,000 barrels per day that is being used by the producers of Vaca Muerta, which last year had been limited by the saturation of the pipeline.
The second key factor that explains this historical record for Vaca Muerta is the arrival of winter and the need to add more natural gas to the country’s networks.
Although the main gas pipelines that start from the Neuquén Basin are almost at the limit of their capacity, from the operators the accelerator is stepped on not only to reach the top of the pipes and replace the decline in conventional production, but also to take advantage of the demand generated by high international prices and add exports through the lines that go to Chile.
Source: Ambito
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