Inspenet, June 24, 2023.
The potential of Argentina’s gas pipeline in the Vaca Muerta rock formation is growing stronger. Vaca Muerta is a gigantic rock formation that is found under the Patagonian soil and is full of hydrocarbons.
It has the second largest gas resources in the world and the fourth largest oil; both in unconventional format. In this way, the hydrocarbons that are extracted from the source rock by the fracking technique (or hydraulic fracturing) are called.
However, despite these riches, Argentina has been importing fuel for years to sustain its energy matrix, which uses gas for the most part. This year Argentina plans to drastically reduce its spending on hydrocarbon imports.
It is important to remember that the aforementioned country lost its energy sovereignty in the 2010s and since then its production of conventional hydrocarbons has decreased. This decision is attributed to the lack of investment in exploration.
In 2011 the rock formation of Vaca Muerta was discovered and a year later the main oil company in the country, Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales (YPF) was nationalized with the intention of advancing the exploitation of this unconventional gas and oil. However, this changed over time due to improvements in the efficiency of the fracking technique, especially in the United States.
Let’s keep in mind that the USA became the world’s leading oil and gas producer thanks to its exploitation of unconventionals.
The energy director of the consultancies Ecolatina and Aleph Energy, Daniel Dreizzen, told BBC Mundo that this reversed the trend. In recent years, exploiting unconventional hydrocarbons cost close to half of what it was previously worth.
In this way, Argentina was finally able to begin to exploit the potential of the place and in the last three years the production of unconventional hydrocarbons has not stopped growing.
Production of the Vaca Muerta gas pipeline
Thanks to this jewel of hydrocarbons, Argentina today produces more than 300,000 barrels of unconventional oil per day. However, during that time imports did not stop growing either. For this reason, the country continues to have a negative energy trade balance. This is because although the country has the gas and oil it needs to be self-sufficient, there is no way to transport all this new production.
This could soon change thanks to the most important infrastructure project of the last four decades in the country, the President Néstor Kirchner gas pipeline .
On June 20, the first section of the Vaca Muerta gas pipeline began operations, which stretches for 573 kilometers between the cities of Tratayén, in the Patagonian province of Neuqén and Salliqueló, in Buenos Aires.
Fountain: https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-america-latina-65851160
Loading...
