Neuquén province chief to meet oil majors in US

The governor of Argentine province Neuquén – home to the Vaca Muerta shale play – is due to hold talks with upstream company representatives during a visit to the US.

Omar Gutiérrez will meet, among others, officials from TotalEnergies, ExxonMobil, Chevron and Shell, the provincial government said in a statement. 

Output of unconventional hydrocarbons from Vaca Muerta has been climbing apace.

“We have negotiations to be able to strike new agreements that permit the acceleration of the development of Vaca Muerta, and always working on the possibility of advancing with everything related to the 2030 development plan,” Gutiérrez said.

Last month Gutiérrez presented the province’s 2030 development blueprint. One focus is spurring the energy transition in the province and creating a “green energy” research and training center. Officials also recently signed a collaboration MOU with Canadian oil province Alberta, encompassing areas including energy and innovation. 

Argentina is seeking to boost hydrocarbons output to generate export dollars and to substitute some imported products, chiefly LNG. At Vaca Muerta, midstream oil and gas transport capacity needs boosting to support future output growth. Oil and gas projects are underway, with the biggest among them the Presidente Néstor Kirchner gas pipeline. 

Oil output from Vaca Muerta was 34,600m3/d (217,627b/d) in January, up 63.2% year-on-year, according to data from the General Mosconi energy institute think tank. The local unit of Shell was the No. 3 player after state oil company YPF and Argentina-focused and Mexico-headquartered Vista Oil & Gas.

Gas production at Vaca Muerta was 45.5Mm3/d (million cubic meters a day) in January, up 69.5% year-on-year. Total's local unit Total Austral was the No. 3 player after YPF and Tecpetrol, a unit of Argentine-Italian group Techint.  

Production of unconventional oil and gas has been trending up in Argentina while output of conventionals has been trending down, as companies target investment at the Neuquina basin.

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