Argentina Targeting Critical Mass in Vaca Muerta

Argentina needs to accelerate drilling in the Vaca Muerta shale basin in order to reach a critical mass and attract outside investment, the country’s energy secretariat said March 12 at CeraWeek in Houston.

Gustavo Lopetegui told NGW on the sidelines of the conference that critical mass is necessary to attract more producers and more service companies so that the use of their equipment is more efficient and the infrastructure can be put to better use.

“We reached 1,000 wells in five to six years but aim to boost activities to reach 3,000 wells over a shorter period to lower costs”, he said. “We have reduced costs by nearly 60% in the last three years, but it’s like homework that never ends and will keep coming down.”

New records are set each month in the Vaca Muerta, Lopetegui said. In February, a record 710 frac jobs were completed, three times the rate from three years ago. “So, each month we are breaking drilling, fracturing and investment records,” he said.