Argentina's state-owned YPF has applied to the government's mechanism for large investments, Rigi, for upstream oil development, it said on Friday.
The company submitted the request for $25bn, making it the largest Rigi application so far, for its LLL Oil project. The plan includes drilling 1,152 wells on five blocks in the Vaca Muerta unconventional formation in the southern Neuquen province to produce 240,000 b/d by 2032, and all related infrastructure. The production would be for export via the Vmos pipeline and export project.
YPF is the leader of the Vmos project, which includes eight other partners. It includes a 437km (271-mile) pipeline, six storage tanks — each with a capacity for 120,000 m³ — and a new port facility in Punta Colorada, on the coast of the southern Rio Negro province. It will start transporting 180,000 b/d at the end of this year, increasing to 550,000 b/d in 2027. It will top off at 700,000 b/d toward the end of the decade.
"This is the start of a new stage," YPF chief executive Horacio Marin on the social media platform X. "Everything that we have done so far cannot compare to what is coming in the next two years."
Vaca Muerta holds 16bn bl of crude, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
The Argentinian government has approved 13 Rigi projects so far, including Vmos, and will accept projects for evaluation through July 2027. It is evaluating 24 projects, including the new YPF project.
The Rigi provides customs, exchange and tax stability for 30 years. Companies applying must invest a minimum of $200mn.
