Argentina offshore to open in 2018

Argentina will hold an offshore bidding round next year, Minister of Energy and Mining Juan José Aranguren said on Thursday.

The round is expected to focus on the Argentine Sea, off the country’s Atlantic coast.

“There is a high probability that the subsalt basin that exists on the coast of Brazil continues south and so we see the discovery of any formation of oil and conventional gas in the area as very attractive. It could be very profitable for the country,” Aranguren was quoted as saying by Reuters.

The energy ministry has already begun to prepare for the auction, so far granting four permits to YPF, Spectrum Offshore and Searcher Seismic to acquire 3D seismic that will be used in data packages for the bid round.

According to Undersecretary of Exploration and Production Marcos Pourteau, who heads planning efforts for Argentina’s first-ever offshore auction, acreage will be tendered in three annual rounds starting in 2018.

Currently, there are two major hydrocarbons developments off the coast of Argentina, both of which are located in the Austral Basin. Vega Pléyade, being carried out by Total, Pan American Energy and Wintershall, came on stream last year and is producing 26 mcm (918 mcf) of gas per day. Also launched in 2016, Enap Sipetrol and YPF’s Magallanes Incremental Project aims to produce 4 mcm (141 mcf) of gas per day and nearly 6,300 bopd.