YPF Remains Positive About Vaca Muerta Despite Drop in Oil Prices

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Written by Amir Richani for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--YPF (NYSE:YPF) (Buenos Ares, Argentina) is prepared for a scenario of lower oil prices but doesn't expect Vaca Muerta developments to stop.

Horacio Marin, president of YPF, said in an interview with Infobae this week that he does not expect the drop in oil prices amid the United States-China trade war to stop the developments in Vaca Muerta.

He expected the current tensions to ease and not impact Vaca Muerta's development in the long run.

"We built a resilient company, (able to stand) less than US$40 or US$45 a barrel," highlighted Marin during the interview.

Yet, he cautioned that lower oil prices over longer periods could impact the speed of developments.

Vaca Muerta, located in the heart of Argentina, is the world's second-largest gas and fourth-biggest oil non-conventional reservoir.

Over the years, the area's production expansion has pushed Argentina to become an increasingly bigger energy player and exporter, with estimates suggesting more than 1 million barrels of oil per day (BBL/d) by 2030.

Shale hydrocarbon production has developed to account for 55.2% of the oil extracted in Argentina across 2024, compared to 2.9% a decade earlier.

Marin, however, highlighted the role that YPF should take in leading not only drilling and higher production, but also in developing midstream infrastructure in the South American country.

The rapid expansion of the shale reservoir has caused midstream capacity bottlenecks. As a result, YPF has announced the construction of a 550,000-BBL/d oil pipeline, in partnership with other energy companies, to transport Vaca Muerta's output to a new export terminal on the Atlantic coast.

The oil pipeline would reach investments of US$3 billion, and it could expand its capacity to 700,000 BBL/d.

"I believe that the opportunity (to develop Vaca Muerta) exists, continues to exist and we are going to achieve it," said Marin.

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