Wintershall to invest $6 bln in Vaca Muerta

The Argentinian subsidiary of Germany’s Wintershall plans to put around USD 6 billion towards developing two fields in Vaca Muerta over the next decade, local media reported over the weekend.

Speaking to news agency Télam, Gustavo Albrecht, Wintershall’s general director in the country, said that the company has completed two pilot projects at Aguada Federal and Bandurria Norte, during which four horizontal wells were drilled in the former and three horizontal wells were drilled in the latter.

The company is now constructing field infrastructure, including crude processing facilities. Both projects have been moved into a testing phase, which could lead to massive investments.

“We will continue testing the wells to define this year where to start the massive development,” Télam quoted Albrecht as saying.

The general director said that each block would require about USD 3 billion for the drilling of 10-20 wells during the next phase of development, whose goal is an output of 30,000 boepd.

Albrecht also said that production increases were expected at Aguada Pichana Este, which could necessitate an expansion at its gas processing facility to raise capacity from 7 mcm (247 mcf) per day to 14 (494 mcf) mcm per day.

Additionally, the company will launch a second pilot project at its San Roque block within the next few months.