They are offering 995 million dollars in search of oil in the sea of ​​Argentina

In total, 13 oil companies have made offers of an amount of 995 million US dollars for the exploration of hydrocarbons in 18 regions of the sea of ​​Argentina.

The Ministry of Energy yesterday opened the envelopes of the International Public Offshore Competition No. 1 for the exploration of 3 basins of the Argentine Continental Shelf in search of gas and oil. The government was planning bids of only $ 250 million.

Although, in principle, 38 blocks were tendered, bids were received for 18, or 47%, a figure that all considered to be large government sources.

In the southern basin (off the southern coast of Santa Cruz and northern Tierra del Fuego), with a depth of only 100 meters in the deepest parts, 14,200 square kilometers (km2) were tendered and tenders received for US $ 38.1 million.

In the western basin of the Malvinas Islands, with blocks 100 to 600 meters deep, 86,400 km2 were tendered and tenders were submitted for 7 zones (181.1 million USD). In the northern basin of Argentina, off the province of Mar del Plata, in the province of Buenos Aires, and with depths up to 4,000 meters above sea level, 100,000 km2 have been proposed and 9 offers (US $ 776 million) were submitted.

According to Energy, out of the total number of companies that have bid, there are 4 that up to now have no activity in the country: the Japanese Mitsui, the Italian ENI and the British BP and Tullow. The list of bidders is completed by Qatar Petroleum, Norwegian Ecuador, American ExxonMobil, French Total, Anglo-Dutch Shell, German Wintershall and Argentina YPF Pluspetrol and Tecpetrol.

The award will be held May 16 and the process of transmitting the documentation for obtaining the exploration license will begin. For these permits, there will be three stages, which will total 13 years: one for 4 years; the second, linked to the concessionaire making a well, for another 4 years; and a third, when another well is built, for an additional 5 years.

18% of the gas produced by Argentina comes from offshore activities such as Vega Pléyade (Total), the Fenix ​​project (Total-Wintershall) and the Magallanes region (ENAP-YPF).

International experience

Some of the oil companies that have proposed to explore hydrocarbons in the Argentine Sea already have experience of offshore activity.

Shell, which has launched a bid for two deepwater blocks with Qatar Petroleum, is already producing in Brazil, the Gulf of Mexico, Nigeria and Malaysia. In addition, he plans to explore Mauritania and the West of the Black Sea.

Total Austral, which already has oil production projects in the Argentine Sea, will be looking for oil and gas in two blocks of the northern basin of Argentina with BP. In addition, with YPF and Norwegian Equinor, he will have a block in the Falklands basin.

The Argentine and Norwegian companies have also bid for two blocks in the northern basin of Argentina.

ExxonMobil is also badociated with Qatari society in three blocks of the Malvinas Oeste Basin, 320 kilometers off the coast of Tierra del Fuego.