YPF Makes Gas Discovery In Western Argentina

 

Argentina state oil producer YPF said on Sunday it had made a discovery of 'tight gas' in the western Argentine province of Mendoza.

The find by the Paso de las Bardas Norte xp-37 exploration well has a potential 25 million barrels equivalent of recoverable resources, the company said in a statement. There was also "important potential" for oil, it added.

Tight gas is a type of hydrocarbon found in reservoirs formed by rocks of low permeability.

Gas production infrastructure is already in place in the area, allowing for immediate production, said YPF.

YPF, which was nationalized in 2012, saw its production of hydrocarbons jump last year, thanks in part to its vast Patagonian shale oil and gas formation Vaca Muerta.

A U.S. Department of Energy report has shown that Argentina has more natural gas trapped in shale rock than all of Europe, a 774-trillion-cubic-feet bounty that could transform the outlook for Western Hemisphere supply.

(Reporting by Maximiliano Rizzi, Writing by Rosalba O'Brien; Editing by Marguerita Choy)