Shell Vaca Muerta blocks to move beyond pilots

The board of super-major Shell will soon decide whether or not to move three of Argentina’s Vaca Muerta blocks into the commercial development stage, local media reported on Monday.

The company’s 2019 Neuquén Basin work plan is expected to be released in the coming months, Laurens Gaarenstroom, the company’s general manager of unconventionals in Argentina, told newspaper EconoJournal.

Shell will drill 10 wells in the shale play this year, and potentially add another 20-30 wells in 2019, to bring the Sierra Blancas, Cruz de Lorena and Águila Mora blocks into commercial development. The company envisions investing more than USD 300 million to drill the new wells and expand associated surface facilities.

To reach a crude processing capacity of 42,000 bopd at the blocks by 2020, the company is considering adding a 30,000-bopd early production facility to its current one in Sierras Blancas. The existing facility is now undergoing an expansion to allow it to process 12,000 bopd by the end of this year.