Vaca Muerta continues to demonstrate its potential and, during May, it reached a new historical activity of activity, with 2,588 fracture stages made in unconventional training. This level of activity represents an increase in 16.89% compared to the previous monthaccording to the survey carried out by the country manager of NCS Multistage, Luciano Fucelo, and anticipates an increase in production, especially oil, in the coming months.
The number is shocking not only because of its magnitude – it is the second consecutive month that Vaca Muerta exceeds 2,000 stages of fracture – but also for what it implies for the Argentine energy industry, which seeks to consolidate as a key export pole in the context of currency shortages and need to generate genuine dollars for the economy.
Why does Vaca Muerta grow?
The record reached in May is no accident. Responds to several factors that managed to align to boost the activity: on the one hand, the Expansion of transport capacityespecially of oil, thanks to the completion of strategic works such as the expansion of the network of Valley pipelines (Oldelval)known as Duplicate plus. This work allows to increase raw offices towards refineries and export ports, unlocking a bottleneck that limited production growth.
On the other hand, there was also a significant improvement in the Operational efficiency Of the fracture equipment, the famous “sets” that the stages perform in the wells. In May, Halliburton reached another milestone when performing 318 stages With one of its sets, which demonstrates the optimization of times and resources in the deposits.
As for the main companies, YPF He led the activity with 1,333 fracture stages In May, followed by Pampa Energy (289) and View (227). They also stood out Chevron (196), Pan American Energy (175), Tecpetrol (137), Phoenix Global Resources (91) and TOTALENERGIES (45).
How long will this rhythm last?
However, not everything is roses color on the horizon of Vaca Muerta. In recent days they began to circulate rumors about possible slowdown in the second half of the yearwith at least one of the great operators preparing a significant reduction of their work, even in the middle of the current activity.
This scenario is not new: in 2024 a similar cycle was lived, when several companies lowered the rhythm after fulfilling their investment plans in advance. Companies usually plan their fracture and drilling activity according to their annual budgets, and when closing those objectives, crews and equipment can be idle. The impact would not only be in the projected production volumes by the end of the year, but also in local employment and in the SMEs of services that depend directly on the activity in the deposits.
Impact for the Argentine economy
The activity record in Vaca Muerta is a Good news for the Argentine economysince it anticipates an increase in oil and gas production that could translate into more exports, income of dollars and employment generation in the hydrocarbon value chain. The challenge is to sustain this rhythm in a context where investments depend on external factors, such as international demand, crude oil and local macroeconomic conditions.
On the other hand, an eventual deceleration in the last quarter of the year could affect the expectations of fiscal income for withholding to oil and gas exports, as well as the flow of currencies that the government needs to strengthen the reserves of the Central Bank.
In summary, Muerta Vaca is going through a moment of euphoriabut the sustainability of this boom is tied to strategic decisions of the operators and the regulatory framework that can guarantee long -term predictability. The unconventional training is, without a doubt, a key pillar for the energy and economic future of Argentina, but to make that potential into a stable source of income and development, it will need much more than monthly records.
Source: Ambito
