Argentina roundup: Vaca Muerta permitting, LNG offtake talks

Permitting

The environment department of Argentina's Neuquén province held a public consultation on a planned upstream project at Vaca Muerta acreage Rincón de Aranda.

Work involves building a system of three frac ponds with capacity to hold a combined 300,000m3 of water.

Driller Pampa Energía has also filed for environmental review at the acreage a project to build a crude treatment plant with initial capacity of 3,500m3/d (22,014b/d). 

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Pampa expects its oil output to climb to around 48,000b/d in 2027, driven by Rincón de Aranda, with the higher production requiring further facilities and logistics investment. 

Pampa oil output – accounting for around 5% of the company’s hydrocarbons production – was 5,400b/d in Q2, up 7% year-on-year. 

In a recent statement, Pampa cited "significant upcoming investments in Vaca Muerta, particularly in developing the shale oil block, Rincón de Aranda."

YPF LNG

Argentina’s YPF will start LNG offtake negotiations with potential buyer India, the state-controlled hydrocarbons firm’s chairman, Horacio Marín, was reported as saying by local press.

YPF has already held initial talks with Indian energy firms and government officials. Italy, Germany and Japan are also potential buyers, Marín indicated.

“When we have secured these first sales, we’ll have financing and we’re going to achieve it,” he was quoted as saying during an event to mark Shell's 110 years of operations in Argentina. 

YPF and Malaysian counterpart Petronas are planning a multi-phase LNG exporting project in Argentina’s Río Negro province, starting with floating liquefaction followed by construction of an onshore plant.