Construction on the expanded plant is set to begin in mid-2025, with first production expected in 2028, followed by a three-year ramp up to full capacity.
Drilling activity is accelerating in Argentina’s Vaca Muerta shale region, thanks in large part to policies by the business-friendly government of President Javier Milei. Shale oil now accounts for about 60% of Argentine crude and has put the nation on course to reach production levels unseen in more than 20 years, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
Under the agreement, the countries will form a working group to identify the measures required for gas exports to be viable and study the development of export infrastructure, primarily emphasising Argentina’s Vaca Muerta formation.
South American nations are increasingly realigning energy strategies to capitalize on offshore oil and gas reserves, signaling a marked shift from previously stated goals of reducing dependence on fossil fuels to satisfy the net zero agenda of those obsessed with a faux climate emergency.
Argentine oil driller Petrolera Aconcagua Energia SA is making arrangements to join the country’s stock market to raise funds for expansion as President Javier Milei’s reforms start to attract capital back to Argentine markets, the Buenos Aires Times has reported. Last month, Aconcagua revealed that it’s bidding for aging oil fields being sold by state-run giant YPF SA as the company looks to expand its current production clip of 13,500 boe/d. It isn’t clear yet if the Petrolera exploration and production unit would list alone, or if the entire Aconcagua Energía group will be involved in the upcoming IPO.
Argentina’s Petrochemical Comodoro Rivadavia SA, through subsidiary PCR Ecuador, discovered oil in a petroleum block 90-Sahino in southwest Ecuador and will carry out extended tests for 90 days, starting this month.
In a world where some commentators speculate that there is a glut of energy and distillate products as a result of high oil prices, sliding China demand and a looming global recession, Argentina will take the under: as La Nacion reports, on Wednesday refiners and retailers hiked prices between 7.6% and 9.6%, amid what is shaping up as a historic energy crisis.
In a surprise development, there are indications that the economically strife-torn country of Argentina will emerge as a major regional energy player. The exploitation of the 7.5 million Vaca Muerta shale formation has delivered an unconventional hydrocarbon boom for Argentina, a fiscally fragile nation once dependent on oil and gas imports.
Crude oil production from Argentina’s burgeoning shale patch, Vaca Muerta, could surge in the coming years and top 1 million barrels per day (bpd) by the end of the decade – but only if takeaway capacity and rig availability do not limit growth.
Argentina, which with a 2022 gross domestic product of $632 million is Latin America’s third-largest economy, is once again in the midst of a deep economic crisis that emerged during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.