The portfolio that the secretary carries Flavia Royón explained that it is “an exploratory well to be carried out in the North Argentina Basin (CAN100), located 300 kilometers from the coast of Mar del Plata, to determine the existence of hydrocarbons.”
“It will be carried out in compliance with the safety and prevention measures established in the Environmental Management Plan presented by the company”said Energy.
The aforementioned resolution that bears the signature of the Secretary of Climate Change, Cecilia Nicoliniapproved “the realization of the Drilling Project of an exploratory well, called Argerich-1 Cuenca Argentina Norte” and the company must “give strict compliance to the terms of the Environmental Management Plan and its extensions.”
The Ministry held a public hearing on October 20 in which the Environmental Impact Study of the Argerich exploratory well was put for consideration, which was developed during three days of presentations and with the participation of 266 exhibitors.
The Argerich-1 exploratory well is the first deepwater well to be carried out 300 kilometers offshore, in the CAN-100 block, operated by Equinor in consortium with the companies YPF and Shell Argentina.
The preliminary studies carried out by YPF consider that there could be a deposit with the capacity to produce 200,000 barrels of oil per day, almost 40% of the oil that Argentina produces today, equivalent to about u$s7,000 million.
According to announcements made at that hearing by the YPF authorities, the discoveries in the sea could be equivalent to everything that the oil company produces together today. On that same occasion, Royon assured that the offshore exploitation of the so-called Argerich project “It is a finding that could change the history of the country, with a productive impact that could be similar to that of Vaca Muerta.” If the other CAN blocks are taken into account
The statement was made known after the Federal Court of Appeals of Mar del Plata annulled a precautionary measure that prevented offshore oil exploration, considering that the Government and the Equinor company complied with the requirements that were required to carry out the entrepreneurship.
In this way, the Norwegian company, as operator of the areas concessioned by the national State in the Argentine Sea for its exploration, will be able to continue with the seismic prospecting activities of blocks 100, 108 and 114.
With the signature of the judges Alejandro Tazza and Eduardo Jimenezthe Mar del Plata federal court revoked the precautionary measure of the head of Federal Court 2, santiago martinissued at the beginning of last February, considering “fulfilled all the requirements established by this House in a timely manner.”
How is the offshore drilling of the Argerich-1 well
Argentina has been searching for hydrocarbons in its sea for more than 90 years. Since then, 187 wells have been drilled on the seabed and have produced some interesting finds, without significant environmental incidents. Some 50,000 km of seismic data have been recorded on the Buenos Aires coast since 1960 and 18 wells have been drilled. The last drilling was carried out in 1997, in wells relatively close to the coast, without eventualities and without affecting other economic activities.
The Argerich exploratory well, which has a cost close to $100 million, is located 307 km from Mar del Plata and 320 km in a straight line from Puerto Quequén. As stated in the information to be presented, the programmed depth for the well is 4,050 meters with a water depth of 1,535 meters, and an area of 500 meters in radius is established around it as the project area, with the projected occupation surface for the activity of 0.78 km2.
As this medium was able to learn, its drilling is scheduled for the first quarter of 2023. YPF professionals estimate that this CAN 100 field -not only the Argerich well- could reach 1,000 million barrels of oil. If it is monetized at 100 dollars a barrel, it is a reserve with a value of 100,000 million dollars, with the addition that in the North Argentina Basin, it is presumed, there are another 20 similar deposits, equivalent to 20 Vaca Muerta.
In deep waters, of more than 300 meters, and ultra-deep waters, of more than 1,500 meters, platforms that can be supported on the bottom, floating platforms or drilling boats with dynamic positioning are used. In this case, it will be a ship with a drilling rig and a heliport, which will be used for the transfer from Mar del Plata of inputs and the crew and technical specialists of various nationalities.
The works consist of carrying out a vertical well up to 2,500 meters in five sections, of which the first four will be lined with cement. The environmental survey of the seabed will be carried out using a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) prior to the start of operations and upon completion. The entire process will take about 60 days.
Equinor’s official plan provides that once the drilling is complete, only samples from the two deepest sections will be analyzed, which are cylinders with a little more than one meter of seabed. The first analysis and test of these samples will be carried out on board the drilling ship, but it is not ruled out that in another stage they will be transferred to the YPF laboratories in La Plata for more production tests. After the evaluation, the well will be sealed (blind) with cement to comply with security measures and established protocols.
Source: Ambito
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