In the next four years YPF will reach a production capacity of 1 million barrels of oil.
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The Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa, and the main YPF authorities celebrated 30 years of listing of the company on the New York Stock Exchange and announced investments for 2023 for 5,000 million dollars and the distribution of dividends among its shareholders.
On the occasion, Massa also ratified the decision of the Government of promote a bill to encourage investment millionaires that will demand the enhancement of the country’s hydrocarbon resources and anticipated that the company will explore the Santa Cruz basin of Palermo Aike, which can contain more than 10 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
The Minister of Economy spoke virtually from the YPF headquarters in the City of Buenos Aires, while the company’s president, Pablo González, the CEO, Pablo Iuliano, and the CFO, Alejandro Iew, were present at the venue of the New York Stock Exchange to celebrate the company’s milestone in addition to the firm’s strong financial and production results in 2022.
According to what was indicated by the directors, this year the firm will invest $5 billion totalof which $2,300 millions will be exclusively for Vaca Muerta and US$1.1 billion for refining and marketing.
Regarding the eproduction estimatesthe authorities calculated for 2023 an increase of 8% in the case of oil (with a rise of 10% in the fourth quarter) and a rise of 3% in the case of gas.
Beyond the general projections, in the cshale aso Growth of 30% for oil and 15% for gas are forecast.
Regarding last year’s results, at the opening of the event Pablo González pointed out that the YPF share It rose 130% in the last year and highlighted that the gross operating result -Ebitda- was “US$4,947 million, one of the highest in the company’s history.”
“The post-pandemic capex was US$2.7 billion, last year a capex of US$3.7 billion had been approved and by the end of the year we corrected it to US$4.1 billion, and by 2023 the Board approved a budget of US$5 billion, it will be a year of growth”, added the head of the company.
On the occasion, González stated that “yesterday the Board of Directors approved the 2022 financial statement report and the production jump was 7.2% of barrels equivalent, the most important in the last 25 years”, driven in particular by the performance of the unconventional resources of the Vaca Muerta formation.
At the closing of the presentation, Massa highlighted that the great results of the company contribute to the objective of the country reaching in the next four years a capacity of production of 1 million barrels of oil and 170 million cubic meters of gaswhich will result in exponential export growth.
At the beginning of his speech -which he carried out virtually from the YPF headquarters in Buenos Aires-, the head of the Palacio de Hacienda stressed that “we have record production levels of 573 thousand barrels per day and 134 million cubic meters of gas per day, a figure that does not It was seen 10 years ago.
Looking ahead to this year and the next, Massa revealed that “YPF together with CGC is close to exploring the southern basin in Palermo Aike, and our geologists estimate that it may contain more than 10 billion barrels of oil equivalent.”
Massa added that “AndPF will move forward with joint venture projects for exploration and exploitation in Palermo Aike, in order to speed up investment processes”.
The Minister of Economy also mentioned ongoing projects such as the trans-Andean oil pipeline, the Oldelval expansion, and the southern and northern Vaca Muerta oil pipelines, which together will imply an investment of more than US$4 billion in the next 2 to 3 years, and will make it possible to achieve an export capacity of more than US$10 billion.
In legislative mattersratified the Government’s decision to promote a bill to encourage hydrocarbon investments: “We have decided to promote a law to establish an adequate regime and framework from the point of view of the availability of foreign currency to provide legal certainty to those who invest in the next years,” said the minister.
Massa anticipated that “it is the decision of the Ministry and those who run the company that the State go to the next shareholders’ meeting next month with a proposal for distribution of dividends to consolidate YPF in the financial system, in order to continue recovering a company that is the flagship of Argentine hydrocarbon development”.
