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Wintershall to work with ConocoPhillips at two Vaca Muerta fields
GERMANY’S Wintershall has arranged to bring the US company ConocoPhillips on board for two projects in Argentina.
e companies revealed last week that they had signed documents that will allow Cono- coPhillips to acquire stakes in the Aguada Fed- eral and Bandurria Norte blocks in Neuquen Province. e blocks lie within the Vaca Muerta shale basin and contain unconventional oil and gas reserves.
e agreement on Aguada Federal provides for Wintershall to transfer half of its 90% stake in the 97-square km block to ConocoPhillips. e German company will continue to serve as operator of the project, and the remaining 10% of equity will remain in the hands of the pro- vincial oil and gas concern, Gas y Petroleo del Neuquen (GYP).
Meanwhile, the agreement on Bandurria Norte calls for Wintershall to reduce its stake in the 105-square km block from 100% to 50%. is will give ConocoPhillips a 50% interest in the site, which is not far from Aguada Federal, but the German rm will retain its position as
operator.
ConocoPhillips and Wintershall have not
revealed the value of the agreements. They have said, though, that they hope to complete the transaction before the end of 2019, pending approval by the relevant government agencies.
The deals will allow Wintershall to take advantage of its US partner’s experience in unconventional oil and gas development. ilo Wieland, a member of the German rm’s board of directors who oversees operations in Latin America, stressed this point last week. “Cono- coPhillips’ extensive know-how, developed across unconventional operations in US shale plays, complements Wintershall’s technologi- cal expertise and decades of local experience,” he said, according to a company press release. “We are excited about this new partnership, as it will allow us to expedite the development of the two blocks.”
Wintershall has already launched pilot devel- opment programmes at Aguada Federal and Bandurria Norte and is engaged in production testing at both blocks. ™
Wintershall
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