YPF raises Argentina shale oil resources to 22.8 billion bbl
Taos Turner, DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
BUENOS AIRES -(Dow Jones)- Argentina's largest oil and gas company, YPF SA, has sharply raised its estimate for unconventional oil resources to 22.8 billion bbl from 927 million.
The news, confirmed by YPF in a statement to the local stock exchange Wednesday, has the potential to dramatically alter Argentina's energy landscape as well as its economic future. It also puts Argentina on the path to become one of the world's top oil-producing countries.
If accurate, the new estimate for unconventional shale oil would put YPF ahead of Brazilian oil giant Petroleo Brasileiro or Petrobras.
Petrobras had global reserves totaling 16.4 billion bbl of oil equivalent under Society of Petroleum Engineers criteria.
Publication of the data comes amid intense speculation that Argentina's government could expropriate the company, which is majority-owned by Spain's Repsol YPF SA.
Argentine officials have accused the company of doing little to invest in exploration and development.
Argentina's government has slammed the oil industry in recent weeks, saying that companies here, especially YPF, haven't done enough to boost output.
Last week the government stopped offering tax breaks totaling about $460 million a year to big companies investing in oil exploration, production and refining.
Planning Minister Julio De Vido said Saturday that the government plans to force oil and gas companies here to produce at full capacity and follow new operating guidelines.
And on Thursday governors from Argentina's top 10 oil-producing provinces will meet in a bid to force oil companies to raise output in their provinces.
Both De Vido and Argentine President Cristina Kirchner have recently highlighted the governors' plans.
Among other things, the governors will consider revoking concessions held by oil companies that have, in their view, failed to meet production pledges.
In 2010, YPF said it found an estimated 4.5 trillion cubic feet of unconventional shale gas.
Earlier Wednesday, YPF said it had spent about $3 billion last year in exploration and production, among other things.
YPF said the new estimate was based on work done by Ryder Scott, which audited the company's fields in an area known as Vaca Muerta in the province of Neuquen.
02/08/2012