In the saddle: Repsol YPF
Repsol ropes Neuquen riches
Repsol YPF has confirmed local media reports that it has hit oil in Argentina's Neuquen province, but the potential from the well has still not been technically certified, a company spokesman said.
"There's a well ... that's been producing for six months, initially generating 200 cubic metres per day (1258 bpd), but I don't have the latest information," a spokesman for YPF told Reuters.
"We're treating the issue with caution. Before giving out information we're trying to certify it with technicians," the spokesman added.
He added that accumulated flows since March from the La Caverna x-1 well totalled 11,000 cubic metres (69,185 barrels), the spokesman said.
"That's a significant number. A useful well in that zone can produce 70,000 cubic metres over a 40-year lifetime," he said.
The YPF spokesman also confirmed a report published by Argentina's DyN news agency that La Caverna x-1 is in the Quintuco formation in the Bandurria exploration area in the Neuquen basin.
DyN said the operations in the Bandurria exploration area are 54.54% owned by YPF, with Germany's Wintershall holding 27.27% and Pan American Energy holding 18.18%.
Earlier today, Buenos Aires-based daily Clarin quoted the province's Governor Jorge Sapag as saying that the company "has found oil and is working in the zone".
Clarin said the La Caverna x-1 well was producing an average of 200 cubic metres per day (1258 bpd) , or 11,000 cubic metres (69,185 barrels) over the six months since testing began.
Clarin cited unnamed YPF sources who said that the potential in the exploration block where the well is located could be 90 million barrels per year. The newspaper said that was equivalent to Argentina's total current oil output.