Vista Oil, the country’s second unconventional hydrocarbon operator, will join Investments of around US$1.1 billion this year to accelerate production in Vaca MuertaIts founder and CEO told Reuters: Miguel Galluccio.
The company will invest in more wells and infrastructure to increase the transmission capacity of Vaca Muerta, which has risen more than 460% in dollars since its launch, Galluccio said in an interview in New York after celebrating the fifth anniversary of its listing on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), where the stock has soared further.
In 2023 the biggest bottleneck “What we had was the infrastructure and the problem was not solved 100%,” explained Galluccio, who mentioned the work of Oleoductos del Valle (Oldelval) to double its capacity to evacuate oil through the Vaca Muerta Sur pipeline, which will go from Neuquén to a port in Rio Negro and Vaca Muerta Norte to reach Chile.
You see that this A third drilling rig has been added. And the introduction of a second batch of fracking, moving from producing 50 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2023 to 65 thousand barrels in the second quarter of this year, where its production will average 70 thousand barrels per day until reaching 85 thousand barrels per day in the fourth quarter, Galluccio said.
The company plans to reach 100,000 barrels per day of production by 2026 and 150,000 barrels by 2030.
The “lift cost” was $4.5 per barrel in the second quarter, although Galluccio stressed that the company It could drop to $4 per barrel in 2026..
“We started at $18 in lift, then we started going down. Today we’ve reached the technical limit,” he explained. However, he said, “we can aim for $4, and we can still get 50 cents from here by 2026.”
Galluccio, a petroleum engineer who worked for many years outside Argentina, returned to the country in 2012 to take up his duties. CEO of YPFwhere he promoted the development of Vaca Muerta. The world’s second largest unconventional gas reserve and the fourth largest oil reserve..
“In 2012, Vaca Muerta was for believers. Today it is Vaca Muerta for engineers,” Galluccio recalls of the beginnings of exploration.
But the country is still far from developing the Vaca Muerta on a large scale, which covers an area similar to that of Belgium.
“Vacca Muerta needs more ‘views’ and more investment”Galluccio said that the approval by Congress of a law that includes export liberalization and non-government interference in local fuel market prices is a positive thing.
“These two concepts are good for the industry, for an important industry for the country to generate foreign currency,” he explained. “The third thing that can help a lot is to raise equity because it is still a constraint for foreign investors.”
Galluccio we love it Vaca Muerta could produce 1 million barrels per day in 2030which will allow the country to generate about $20 billion annually. “The Pampas is humid without the risk of rain,” he explained, referring to the importance of the rural sector to the country as a source of foreign currency.
(Signs for translation)Miguel Galluccio(r)Vista Oil & Gas(r)Vacca Muerta
