Page 12 - LatAmOil Week 33 2022

LatAmOil ARGENTINA LatAmOil

Argentina offering tax, customs breaks

to companies that boost oil, gas output

ARGENTINA is planning to give oil companies that the policy changes under consideration will
new incentives to boost production by offering allow for the preservation of existing export con-
them tax and customs benefits, Economy Min- tracts, thereby ensuring that the country holds
ister Sergio Massa declared last week. on to its existing customers.
Massa, who is serving as “superminis- Meanwhile, the government of Argentina is
ter” with authority to reshape the economy, working to bring new upstream assets online
announced the policy change while speaking and pave the way for future exports by planning
to business leaders in the energy sector in the to construct a gas pipeline linking Vaca Muerta
province of Neuquen, which is home to most of to Buenos Aires. This project will require an
the Vaca Muerta shale formation. “Vaca Muerta investment of $1.4bn.
is getting fast-tracked from today. We are setting Massa hailed the project last week, saying
up a system in which each project will have a tax that once the gas pipeline’s first phase of oper-
and customs benefit regime,” he declared. ation began operating in 2023, it would save
The push to boost production comes as Argentina $2.2bn in gas import costs. ™
the South American country seeks to unlock
the full potential of Vaca Muerta, the world’s
fourth-largest shale oil reserve and second-larg-
est unconventional gas reserve. Argentina’s gov-
ernment believes there is still work to be done in
order to optimise investment in the formation.
According to Massa, the new incentives avail-
able to producers will include allowing machin-
ery imports to go through a separate customs
process so as to avoid much of the bureaucratic
process faced by other goods. Buenos Aires will
also continue to work on legislation granting oil
companies access to foreign currency if produc-
tion is increased, he said.
Argentina is seeking to reduce its reliance
on hydrocarbon imports and become a net
exporter of hydrocarbons, partly to increase its
hard currency earnings and partly to improve
its energy security. To this end, it has pledged Massa unveiled the plan in Neuquen on August 11 (Photo: Twitter/@SergioMassa)

TotalEnergies and partners sign agreement

with Argentina on Fenix natural gas field

TOTALENERGIES (France) and its partners It is not fully clear whether the accord men-
have signed an agreement with Argentina’s gov- tioned by Mercopress is the FID. The press
ernment on the development of Fenix, a natural agency described the document as an agreement
gas field in San Sebastian Bay offshore Tierra del that provided for the partners to invest $700mn
Fuego Province, Mercopress said on August 15. in Fenix and to bring it into production in 2024.
The Fenix project has been on hold since But Favio Jeambeaut, the executive manager of
2018, with operator TotalEnergies delaying a gas, power and business development at Argen-
final investment decision (FID) because of eco- tina’s Pan American Energy (PAE), which has
nomic uncertainty in Argentina. Earlier this ties to BP (UK), was quoted by Bnamericas as
year, though, the French major’s partners said saying on August 9 that the companies were still
they would make an FID before the end of 2022. discussing certain issues.

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