Page 13 - LatAmOil Week 40 2022
P. 13

LatAmOil                                      ARGENTINA                                            LatAmOil



                         He said that Neuquen Province, which is home   around the size of Belgium and contains around
                         to most of the Vaca Muerta formation, would   308 trillion cubic feet (8.722 trillion cubic
                         be able to double its oil yields and keep gas pro-  metres) of shale gas and 16bn barrels of shale
                         duction rising until 2030 if it spent $12bn on   oil, according to the US Energy Information
                         infrastructure projects and another $7bn on well   Administration (EIA). Its full potential has yet
                         drilling and completion.             to be realised, but production levels have been
                           For his part, Omar Gutierrez, the governor   climbing this year on 2021 levels. ™
                         of Neuquen, said the province did not have an
                         adequate supply of drilling rigs. There are cur-
                         rently 34 units operating at Vaca Muerta fields,
                         and another 19 are needed, he declared. He also
                         said that Neuquen was working to push oil pro-
                         duction levels back up to their previous peak of
                         308,000 barrels per day (bpd) and hoped to see
                         gas output hit 140mn cubic metres per day by
                         2030.
                           Alexandre Ramos, vice president of shale
                         research at the Norwegian energy consultancy
                         Rystad Energy, also pointed to shortages of
                         fracking equipment. “Frac fleet availability is a
                         massive bottleneck,” he was quoted as saying at
                         the conference by Reuters. “We are seeing his-
                         torically high gas production in Neuquen, so
                         upcoming expansions are critical to allow Vaca
                         Muerta to satisfy demand.”
                           Vaca Muerta is one of the largest unconven-
                         tional hydrocarbon basins in the world. It is   Fracking operation at Fortin de Piedra field in Vaca Muerta (Image: Tecpetrol)



                                                        GLOBAL
       OPEC+ makes 2mn bpd cut, angering the US






                         THE OPEC+ group of oil producers made the   output. The White House published a statement
                         decision to cut combined output by 2mn barrels   by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and
                         per day (bpd) when they met in person this week   National Economic Council Director Brian
                         for the first time since the coronavirus (COVID-  Deese that said Biden had been “disappointed
                         19) pandemic began. It comes despite fears   by the short-sighted decision by OPEC+ to cut
                         about the global economy and follows a lengthy   production quotas while the global economy is
                         period during which Middle Eastern oil pro-  dealing with the continued negative impact of
                         ducers in particular have been urged to increase   Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.” But the true source
                         yields as they near theoretical output highs.  of this disappointment may be upward pressure
                           The reduction was the group’s second in as   on fuel prices just over a month before Biden
                         many months, with September’s decision wiping   faces a challenging midterm election.
                         out the 100,000 bpd added to output in August.  Despite widespread pressure, though, the
                           Over the previous 18 months OPEC+ had   group’s top producers – Saudi Arabia and Rus-
                         been working to return around 10mn bpd of   sia – have stuck by each other, appearing to have
                         supplies taken off the market to stem the mas-  learnt from the folly of their short-lived price
                         sive losses experienced by oil exporting nations   war that coincided with the start of the pan-
                         when crude prices plummeted in the second   demic, and members said that the reductions
                         quarter of 2020. The slow build-back ensured   were required “in light of the uncertainty that
                         that prices rose steadily, but renewed volatility   surrounds the global economic and oil market
                         amid conflict and concerns about demand has   outlooks.”
                         necessitated action in the opposite direction   Russia was reportedly keen to cut output
                         as many market commentators opine that the   by 1mn bpd, while Saudi Arabia had been
                         group now views $90 per barrel as a non-nego-  rumoured to be considering an additional uni-
                         tiable price floor, though the Saudi government   lateral cut of about 500,000 bpd. The two coun-
                         has denied any desire to control prices.  tries account for more half of the OPEC+ group’s
                           The cut drew immediate criticism from   43.86mn bpd production quota for October at
                         major consuming nations, led by the US, whose   11mn bpd each, but while Saudi Arabia has been
                         President Joe Biden lobbied hard earlier in the   able to produce around this level of late, Russian
                         year to encourage OPEC+ members to raise   output has fallen as sanctions bite. ™



       Week 40   05•October•2022                www. NEWSBASE .com                                             P13
   8   9   10   11   12   13   14   15   16   17   18