YPF, Gazprom in talks to develop natural gas in Argentina

By PABLO GONZALEZ
Bloomberg

YPF and OAO Gazprom are in talks to sign a memorandum of understanding to develop natural gas in Argentina worth at least $1 billion, said the South American country’s Industry Minister Debora Giorgi.

Gazprom officials will visit Buenos Aires-based YPF as soon as November, Giorgi said Wednesday after meeting with Gazprom chairman Alexey Miller at the International Gas Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia.

The MOU could also include Germany-based BASF unit Wintershall, she said.

YPF, Argentina’s largest energy company, is seeking partners to develop a Chubut provincial shale deposit, D129, and Vaca Muerta, a shale formation the size of Belgium that contains at least 23 billion bbl of oil.

Chevron, the third- largest oil company by market value, is producing shale oil in a YPF joint venture that may expand to $16 billion.

“We are seeking partners to finance shale projects,” Giorgi said in the statement. “The investments will be for shale deposit not only located in Vaca Muerta.”

Alejandro Di Lazzaro, a YPF spokesman, didn’t have an immediate comment on the MOU in a telephone interview from Buenos Aires. He referred to a press release issued by Gazprom on the meeting between Miller and Giorgi.

“The meeting participants looked at the development prospects for the bilateral cooperation in the gas sector, with an emphasis on exploration and production of gas from Argentine gas fields,” Gazprom said. “Consideration was also given to supplies of liquefied natural gas from Gazprom group’s portfolio to the country.”

Moscow-based Gazprom is the natural gas producer that meets a third of European demand for the fuel. Wintershall produces 9% of Argentine gas output.

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