National oil production reached 626,600 barrels per day (Mbb/d) in January, equivalent to an increase of 0.7% compared to December 2022 and an increase of 9.9% in the interannual comparisondriven by the strong growth of Vaca Muerta.
This is clear from the figures prepared by the Ministry of Energy, in which it was highlighted that with more than 627 thousand barrels per day, in the first month of the year the highest volume of oil production was reached since 2008 to date.
In particular, the unconventional oil produced in the Vaca Muerta formation reached the mark of 289.8 Mbb/d, which reflected the achievement of a production 2.6% higher than that of last December, and a 29 .9% higher than in the same month of 2022.
For the case of unconventional gas extracted there, January 2023 generated 50.2 MMm3/, a figure 1.4% higher than that of December and 11% above that of January 2022an achievement that stands out despite the limitations of the infrastructure.
The data for January, in this sense, revealed that unconventional wells accounted for 45% of the country’s total oil production and 39% of total gas.
The total production of crude oil in Neuquen during January it reached 315,340 barrels per day -including conventional areas-, which confirmed to the province as the main producer of crude oil.
In second place Chubut remainedin the heart of the Gulf of San Jorge basin, which in January reached a production of 140,282 barrels of oil per day.
In the analysis regarding the performance of the companies in Vaca Muerta, the figures for The Ministry of Energy reflected that YPF was the one that contributed the largest volume in the formation with a total in January of 809,000 cubic meters (m3) of crude oil, a significant growth above the 620,000 of the same month of 2022.
Also in the first month of the year, Vista Energy followed in production with 185,000 m3, Shell Argentina with 143,000 m3, Pan American Energy with 95,400 m3, Tecpetrol with 50,300 m3, Exxomobil with 39,700 m3, Pluspetrol with 32,800 m3, Chevron 6,800 m3 and Total Austral with 5,020 m3.
The sector anticipates that the projects to expand transportation capacity that are underway will allow the increase in both gas and oil production to be maintained in 2023.
This is the case of the progress of the construction of the President Néstor Kirchner Gas Pipeline and its associated works that will increase the evaluation capacity of the Neuquén formation by up to 30% starting in the middle of this year.
To this is added that in May the rehabilitation work of the Trans-Andean Pipeline (Otasa) could be launched, which will increase the possibility of exporting crude oil by up to 100,000 barrels per day.
In the same way, but to the east, the Valley Pipeline (Oldelval) It has already started its project to double the capacity of shipments from the Neuquén basin to the Bahía Blanca port terminal.
In the medium and long term, other infrastructure projects are registered, in articulation headed by the national oil company YPF, which seeks to achieve internal self-sufficiency and begin to export part of its production.
The oil company YPF, precisely, will celebrate 30 years of listing on the New York Stock Exchange on Fridayopportunity in which they will present the results of 2022, the investments for this year estimated at some US$ 5,200 million will be anticipated and the five-year plan for the period 2023-2027 will be known.
As part of the company’s projects, the planned investments in infrastructure works aimed at taking advantage of the export market for the resources of the unconventional formation of Vaca Muerta stand out.
In this sense, two of the company’s main objectives for the five-year period will be the construction of a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) production plant in partnership with the Malaysian company Petronaswhich will require the construction of a new gas pipeline from Vaca Muerta, with an initial investment of US$10,000 million.
The company also anticipated the so-called Vaca Muerta Sur Pipeline, its own project that will open to the participation of other companies, which provides for the construction of a 700-kilometre pipeline to the coast of Río Negro, together with a port mega-terminal.
Always according to the figures of the Ministry of Energy that relieves the affidavits of the oil companies, in 2022 3,540,337 m3 were exported from the Neuquén Basin, equivalent to about 22 million barrels, that is, more than 20% of the production of the province and more than double the previous year, reaching almost US$ 2,100 million.
The largest exporters of Neuquén crude were Vista with 5.4 million barrels for amounts that reached US$ 495 million in the year; the Non-Conventional Hydrocarbons Company (CHNC), a YPF and Chevron company with just over 4.5 million barrels and values of US$ 425 million; and Shell Argentina with 3.8 million barrels for some US$ 370 million.
The companies Petronas EyP, Pan American Energy, Tecpetrol, ExxonMobil Exploration, Pluspetrol, Pampa Energía and Total Austral followed until completing the ten exporters.
Among the exporters of crude oil is not the main producer of the country, which is YPF -beyond its participation in areas with international operators- since the company uses all of its upstream to supply its refineries to meet the demand of its network of 1,600 service stations.
However, the jump in production registered by the company allows it to envision for the second quarter of the year reaching self-sufficiency and advancing in its export project.
