They opened the envelopes to explore the sea and there is waiting in the city "Diario La Capitale de Mar del Plata

The Secretariat for the Energy of the Nation yesterday opened the offers of international call Costa Afuera No. 1 for the exploration of three basins of the Argentine continental shelf in search of gas and oil. There were 13 companies that offered 995 million USD for 18 regions.

Over the next month, the government will allocate to each of the areas offered in the basins. Of the total companies that have made offers, there are four that up to now have not been operating in the country: Mitsui, BP, ENI and Tullow. The list of bidders is completed with Qatar, Equinor, ExxonMobil, Total, YPF, Shell, Pluspetrol, Tecpetrol and Wintershall.

In Mar del Plata, it is expected that some of the exploration and exploitation areas will be located opposite the city.

Energy Secretary Gustavo Lopetegui underlined the level of offers received by companies and said that "It is likely that the sea of ​​Argentina is very rich."

He argued that it was a year ago that Argentina did not import oil and stressed: "Over the months, we will be regular exporters of light oil, which has not happened since 2009."

Since the 1970s, the country has offshore exploration and production platforms. In 2018, 18% of gas production came from offshore areas.

The exploration area is located in the southern basins, northern Argentina and western Falklands. On the Southern Basin, with a depth of only 100 meters in the deepest parts, 14,200 square kilometers were the subject of calls for tenders. In the Malvinas Oeste basin, from a depth of 100 to 600 meters, 86,400 square kilometers were tendered. In the northern basin of Argentina, with a depth ranging from 200 meters to 1,300 meters and 1,200 to 4,000 meters in ultra-deep waters, 100,200 square kilometers were the object of 39, calls for tenders. In total, more than 200,000 square kilometers have never been explored.

This tendering process aims to Granting of exploration permits in offshore blocks the jurisdiction of the national state, within the regulatory framework of Law 17.319.

"Exploring the maritime territory is the first step to have hydrocarbon resources in the future", noted the Secretariat for Energy. He added: "With this competition, the level of knowledge of the Argentine offshore is increased thanks to real investments made by companies with adequate technical and financial capacities for the next four years".

Offers by basin

Southern Basin: two zones for a total offer of $ 38,100,000.

Cuenca North Argentina: seven zones for a total offer of $ 181,100,000.

Malvinas West Basin: nine zones for a total offer of $ 776,000,000.

Local interest

Last week, the Commission for the promotion, development and interests of the Council for deliberation in maritime matters and fisheries promoted a draft resolution expressing the desire to award the contract to Mar del Plata.

It was after the commission met in the industrial park representatives of the companies that make up the district energy pole.

According to the president of the commission, Guillermo Volponi (PRO), "it is very important for Mar del Plata to convince the companies that will be rewarded for their offshore exploitation that our city it can be the basic port for the operations of the industry. "

In your opinion "It's an unbeatable opportunity so that local businesses can articulate their operations with the dynamics that characterize the private sector and the support that the state can provide in institutional matters, as well as the interests of the community as a whole. "