Versión Español
EspañolYacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales (YPF), Argentina’s state-controlled oil company — and the nation’s largest — announced yesterday that US-based Chevron Corporation has ratified the agreement reached last year between the two companies to develop the Vaca Muerta oil field. Located in the provinces of Mendoza, Río Negro, and Neuquén, Vaca Muerta has a total area of approximately 30,000 square kilometers.
The announcement marks a new stage in which the companies will jointly invest a total of US$1.6 billion — each providing 50 percent of the capital — for a vast development of unconventional hydrocarbons, including the drilling of 170 additional wells during 2014. The completion and construction of production facilities will also be carried out at this stage of the project.
In March, Chevron successfully culminated a pilot project launched last year with YPF in Vaca Muerta, where the US firm fully funded an initial outlay of $1.24 billion. This allowed the development of 20 square kilometers and the drilling of 161 wells. The exploration cluster of the project then comprises an area of 395 square kilometers, for the perforation of more than 1500 wells, with the aim of achieving production of more than 50,000 barrels of oil, and 3 million cubic meters of natural gas per day.
