Thursday, March 28

Vaca Muerta once again boosted oil production: it was the highest December in 9 years


The number of barrels per day last month was higher than the November 557,000 and had a 38% share of unconventional production, which had a year-on-year growth of 64%.

The Secretary of Energy, Darío Martínez, expressed in this regard that “We gave clear rules and predictability to the activity and month after month production increased.”

“This allows us to generate more energy to accompany the growth process that Argentina is experiencing,” he added.

Martinez stressed that “When a country produces more, generates more jobs, more SMEs open their doors and join the sector, we develop more added value and more national technology. All key aspects for the economic reactivation that we are going through.”

Total oil production was 14% higher than that of the same month in 2020, and the great contribution came from Vaca Muerta.

In this regard, Energy specified that in December “212,000 barrels of unconventional oil (shale and tight) were produced per day, 4% more than in November and almost 64% more compared to the same month last year.”

Based on the growth of the unconventional segment, Martínez stated that “Since we took office, we have put all our energy into developing this key sector for Argentina’s reconstruction, and that is yielding great results.”

Thanks to the policies carried out by the national government headed by Alberto and Cristina, the industry and production grow every month”, he added.

In line with the national numbers, the province of Neuquén -where the Vaca Muerta area is located- showed a growth in total oil production of 3% compared to November and 49% year-on-year. The unconventional, for its part, did so by 4% and 66%, respectively.

The Ministry of Energy stated that “The activity throughout the territory is on the rise and has already exceeded the pre-pandemic numbers.”

In this regard, he stressed that “December total oil production exceeded February 2020 values ​​by almost 6%, while unconventional oil production exceeded those values ​​by 69%.”

Neuquén, also in record

Oil production in the province of Neuquén had an increase of 29,67% in 2021 compared to the previous year. According to the figures provided by the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, in last December, the daily production of oil reached 244,586 barrels.

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These figures imply an increase in the 49,18% compared to December 2020 and 3.27% compared to November 2021. The accumulated production of 2021 was 71 million barrels of oil, exceeding by almost 30% the production of 2020, which was 57 million barrels.

The increase in December is mainly explained by the increase in production in the areas Loma Campana, Lindero Atravesado, Cruz de Lorena, Aguada del Chañar and Bajo del Choique.

“I said in the middle of last year that we were going to exceed 235,000 barrels per day and some did not believe me. I fell short, because we exceeded that figure. We dreamed it, we committed ourselves and we are fulfilling it. We are going to pay all the costs to continue realizing the potential that Vaca Muerta has”Governor Omar Gutiérrez said.

In addition, he assured: “this is the result of predictability, certainty and agreements between the sectors of the activity. In this way, the municipalities receive more resources and when they have excellent mayors like Mariano Gaido, they are clear about where to invest those pesos, something that constitutes a public policy that benefits current and future generations.

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The president stressed that “This record oil production does nothing more than certify the geological quality of Vaca Muerta” and anticipated: “We cannot stay here, we must continue to deepen the activity and quickly address the expansion and construction of new oil and gas pipelines that allow us to transport this production and put it at the service of other regions of the country and also for export.

As for the gas, December production was 78.99 million cubic meters per day, which represents an increase of 30.47% compared to the same month in 2020, 2.09% compared to last November and 6.85% if all of 2021 is compared with the previous year. The accumulated figure for 2021 was 26,330 million cubic meters of gas compared to 24,650 million cubic meters in 2020.

The increase in gas production during December is due to the increase registered in the areas Loma de la Lata-Sierra Barrosa, San Roque, Aguada De Castro, and Aguada Pichana East.



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