Download: The Argentine Dream Shale Oil & Gas

It’s been an exciting and ultimately strange year in the world of Argentine oil and gas. In 2011, the country catapulted into the industry’s limelight when the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that Argentina had the third-largest technically recoverable resources of shale gas in the world, behind only the US and China, most of it within the Vaca Muerta (Dead Cow) shale in the Neuquén Basin within the western provinces of Neuquén and Mendoza.

Then the industry has been rocked by the downfall and nationalization of YPF/Repsol by Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and the Argentine federal government.

There as also been some controversy regarding the quantities, nature and, most importantly, recoverability of these shale gas and oil resources. Some pointed out that only a relatively small portion of the basin and other areas of Argentina had been explored. Others, meanwhile, maintained a healthy skepticism regarding the Neuquén Basin shale.

No one knows what path Argentina’s federal government will take in the coming months and years, and until that is clear, it will be very difficult for the alternative asset investment community to evaluate the potential risks and returns of this play. But if most things are unclear at the moment, it’s clear that the Argentine shale play – enacted with quintessentially Argentine histrionics in recent months – is still in its first act.

This first appeared as an article in Alternative Latin Investor. You can download the full article here › *

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See also
Download: 12 myths surrounding shale gas production