Content area
Full Text
The boom in shale gas-natural gas trapped in shale deposits- is no longer a North American phenomenon. Argentina, with 774 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of recoverable shale gas resources, holds the world's third-largest reserves-placing it behind only China (1,275 Tcf) and the United States (862 Tcf).
With nearly 12 percent of global shale gas resources, is Argentina poised to become a global energy player? With the right policies and investments, Argentina could experience a shale gas (and, to a lesser extent, oil) boom similar to that of the U.S., where from 2000 to 2010 shale gas went from 1 percent to 23 percent of U.S. total gas supply.
The Neuquén Basin in Argentina's southwest shows the greatest potential for unconventional gas development. Spain's Repsol and its Argentine subsidiary, Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales (YPF), found 4.5 Tcf of tight gas (natural gas stuck in unusually impermeable rock) in 2010, and 927 million barrels of shale oil in November 2011. Other oil companies-such as ExxonMobil, Petrobras, EOG Resources, Pan American Energy, Total, and Apache-are focusing on the basin as well. They will spend approximately $4.5 billion in explorations in 2012.
But the transition from discovery to production depends on more than resources and available technology. Foreign companies...