Vaca Muerta is about to reach a new record. The production of unconventional oil In the Neuquén basin it is close to surpassing conventional production in the entire country, something that has never happened. This is clear from the report by the consulting firm Oil Production Consulting, based on the latest official data.
Just 5 years ago, at the end of 2018, unconventional oil production barely exceeded 10,000 m3/d, while conventional oil production was close to 70,000 m3/d. The latest data, from August of this year, shows that unconventional production was 48,206 m3/d, 49% of the country’s total, while conventional production was 50,645 m3/d, 51% of the total.
Currently, the Neuquén basin concentrates total production at 63%, followed by the Golfo de San Jorge with 31%, then the Cuyana with 3%, the Austral with 2% and the Northwest with 1%. Conventional oil is in natural decline, while on the other hand, Vaca Muerta shale oil does not stop growing, due to investments and improved productivity in recent years.
In the sector it is not surprising, and the data could be consolidated in the future: in the distribution of reserves by basin, the Neuquén concentrates 55%, the Gulf of San Jorge 43%, the Austral 1%, the Cuyana 1% and that of the Northwest is already at 0%.
In the last AOG Expo 2023the largest in the sector, which is held every two years in La Rural, the head of the Oil and Gas Institute (IAPG), Ernesto López Anadónhe claimed: “Loma Campana converted Argentina from being a country with oil, to an oil country, and to be a net hydrocarbon export country.”
The case of shale gas
In the race between conventional and unconventional production, in the case of shale gas He has been winning it for a long time. At the end of 2018, unconventional production exceeded 50,000 mm3/d, while conventional production was close to 80,000 mm3/d. The curves crossed in September 2021 and since then shale gas has been above. In August, the latest data available, 89,238 mm3/d of shale gas were produced, 62% of the country’s total, against 55,115 mm3/d, 38% of the total.
In any case, in the case of oil they do not celebrate the numbers. Production throughout the country, which had been increasing steadily since September of last year, reached a peak of 100,337 m3/d, and has fallen every month since then. It had a recovery in August, but is at 98,851 m3/d.
In terms of the number of barrels, in March it had reached the peak of production of 649,000 per day, and the latest data for July was 632,000 per day. Among the reasons, in the sector They talk about the lack of inputs due to imports, the difficulties in transferring dollars abroad and the uncertainty of prices, in a context where the gap between the Venezuelan barrel and the export barrel is increasingly widening.
This is one of the reasons behind the “oil dollar”, the incentive promoted by the Minister of Economy and presidential candidate, Sergio Massa. It allows the sector to settle 25% of exports at the CCL exchange rate, currently above $900, without losing access to the MULC, where they can import at an official dollar of $350.
High sources from the Ministry of Economy assure that the relationship between Massa and the energy businessmen is good. In fact, Massa told them about the measure before announcing it last week, during his visit to Vaca Muerta, in a meeting that was not publicly disclosed, held at the Palacio de Hacienda, and which included figures such as Marcelo Mindlinfrom Pampa Energía.
At its last meeting, the Petroleum Club, which brings together the most important businessmen in the sector, invited the candidate of La Libertad Avanza, Javier Milei, to speak, who left amid applause and praise from the president of the Club, who presented him as a “protagonist” of today who “wants to build.” Economy sources assure that Massa has been invited to these meetings, but he decides not to participate because he is the one who must “control” the sector and not participate in lunches. The minister’s relationship is with Marcos Bulgheroni, who is today number one in Pan American Energy (PAE).
Source: Ambito
