The level of activity in Vaca Muerta reached a new historical record in September, growing 14% compared to Augustin line with oil production that remains at high levels and the start-up of the Néstor Kirchner gas pipeline.
According to the report prepared monthly Luciano Fucello, country manager of the NCS Multistage firm, Last month, 1,398 fracture stages were carried out, becoming an absolute record for a single month and thus surpassing the numbers from August 2022when 1,379 were made.
According to the study, YPF led the operations, with 47% of the activity, followed by Vista, with 14%; PAE with 13%, Total with 7%, Chevron with 6%, Pampa Energía with 6%, Shell with 4% and Pluspetrol, with 3%.
“Fracture activity remains below forecast for the year (1,400 average). The fracture sets are at maximum capacity with activity in 8 operating companies,” it was explained in the work.
“The problems with imports, although they are present in each work table, are being unblocked through joint work of the chambers and the Ministry of Energy of the Nation,” the report detailed.
When analyzing the importance of an increase in this indicator, Fucello’s study highlighted that “In Argentina, the thermometer of unconventional reservoir activity and commercial metrics is given in terms of fracture stagesand not in the number of wells or active drilling equipment, as is the case in conventional fields.”
“Likewise, over time the stages of fracture have become a way of accurately measuring the economic activity of the sector, both directly and indirectly, used by both the private sector and the public sector. There are studies that directly link the number of fracture stages with the production of hydrocarbons in the immediate future., so it is imperative to measure the number of stages of the sector as a whole and of each company,” he explained. In that sense, “knowing the direct relationship between stages and production, knowing the number of stages in the market, immediate production can be predicted.”
In addition to the high level of oil production that has been recorded in the formation, among some factors that may have led to the record in terms of fracture stages, the implementation of the Néstor Kirchner gas pipelinecontracts in the Gas Planas well as the recent expansion of the Valle Pipeline system.
Moving forward, the new dollar differential which recently announced Sergio Massa It can help sustain oil production and drive up (or, at least, sustain) the fracturing stages by companies.
Dead Cow Dollar
Precisely, when analyzing the impact that the so-called “Dead Cow dollar” In terms of currencies, from the Rosario Stock Exchange they estimated that “if the liquidation of 75% of these exports to the official dollar materializes in the short term, “We would be facing a foreign exchange flow of around US$442 million per month.”
“If the measure is maintained for the next 60 days, the BCR technicians propose that it could be reach a potential flow close to US$900 million. However, the unknown lies in how the industry will behave in the final fifteen days of the program, when the exchange rate could fluctuate, which could affect export pre-financing and the advancement of settlements,” the entity’s study detailed.
And he concluded: “This initiative comes at a promising time for the Argentine oil and gas industry. Strong growth in shale oil production at Vaca Muerta is offsetting declining conventional oil production and supporting exports. In addition, the increase in shale gas production and the inauguration of the GPNK have strengthened gas production in Argentina, both for the domestic market and for exports to neighboring countries.”
Source: Ambito
