Argentina Shale – Neuquen basin

Drilling results to date suggest that Argentina’s Neuquen Basin holds vast amounts of shale gas, tight gas and shale oil. The 137,000 km² basin, situated entirely onshore, is part of the Sub-Andean trend which extends the entire length of South America. Many analysts believe Neuquen shale’s geology to be better than that of Texas’ Eagle Ford. Continue reading here..

Repsol’s Q1 2011 Production down 7.4% over the same period last year; Unrest in Libya and Maintenance work in the Caribbean are the key factors!

Repsol posted O&G production of 324,348 boepd, down 7.4% over Q1 2010 production of 350,000 boepd. This is mainly due to conflicts in Libya, moratorium in GoM production and maintenance turnarounds in Trinidad & Tobago. However, these factors were partially offset by higher output from Peru, driven by demand and the LNG plant, and by the new contract that came into force in Ecuador.

In Libya, Repsol produced 27,000 boepd for Q1 2011, over 43,000 boepd in Q1 2010. Production is completely interrupted from March 2011. Second, the negative impact of production moratorium in GoM. Repsol face a drop of 8,000 boepd versus Q1 2010. Third, maintenance turnarounds in Trinidad & Tobago meant that production was 11,000 barrels per day lower than last year.

Exploration Activities in the Quarter:

Repsol invested €302 million (US$ 426 million) in first quarter 2011. Of this, €252 million (US$ 355.6 million) were spent in Exploration and Production and 85% of this sum was in development projects.

The company currently drilling five exploratory wells; two in the Brazilian Santos 44 block, Itaborai and Tingua; one in Campos 33 block, Gavea; one in Bolivia, Sararenda; and one in the US onshore, Garden Island Bay 1. The company is forging ahead with the appraisal well drilling campaign in Peru with Kinteroni 3 and in Venezuela with Perla 5.

Repsol recently farm-in into 164 blocks at Alaska prolific North Slope. The blocks are close to existing producing fields and cover an area of 2,000 square kilometers.

Source: Derrick Petroleum Planned Exploration Wells Database

PARTIAL DIVESTMENT of YPF:

After the sale of a total 4.2% stake of YPF during the last quarter of 2010, Repsol in March carried out a public offering for 7.7% of that company’s stock and other sales totaling 3.83% of YPF.

In May 2011, Grupo Petersen informed Repsol of its decision to exercise its option to buy 10% of the capital of YPF almost a year in advance of the option’s February 2012 expiration.

Source: Derrick Petroleum E&P Transactions Database
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Oil companies to invest $1.38 billion in Ecuador

Oil companies and consortiums operating in Ecuador under service provider contracts will invest $1.38 billion in the Andean country during the 2011 to 2025 period.

As per UK Trade & Investment Report of May 2010, Ecuador is the fifth-largest producer of oil in South America and the smallest oil producer in OPEC., with an assigned production quota of 520,000 bbl/d from which 368,000 bbl/d exported and 152,000 bbl/d consumed locally.

Companies investing in the oil sector include China's Andes Petroleum and PetroOriental, Italy's Eni, Spain's Repsol YPF, and Chilean state oil and gas company ENAP.

Andes Petroleum Ltd operates in Tarapoa Block and the Lago Agrio Storage and Transfer Station (Sucumbios).

PetroOriental S.A. operates in blocks 14 and 17 (Orellana).

Eni has been operating in the Campo Villano oilfield (Pastaza province).

• The investments will be made in 14 oil fields, with about $1.1 billion going into production while the rest will be invested in exploration
• 87% of the investment  will be invested up to 2014
• For this year oil companies are seen investing $468 million, of which $409 million will be invested in production activities and $59 million in exploration.

In January Ecuador's government concluded almost three years of negotiations aimed at gaining more control over its natural resources and increasing its oil revenue by replacing production-sharing deals with services contracts. The services contracts turn the companies into service providers for the exploration and extraction of hydrocarbons. Companies will receive a fee rather than sharing profits.

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