YPF and Petronas kick off shale campaign
The companies have started drilling at their joint pilot project in the Vaca Muerta shale
Argentina's YPF and Petronas recently started drilling their first well at a $550m joint venture pilot project in the Vaca Muerta shale in southern Argentina, Miguel Galuccio, the head of YPF, told delegates to AOGC 2015 on Monday. The companies finalised a deal in December to start a pilot shale development project at the Amarga Chica Block in the Vaca Muerta shale, marking Petronas’ first foray into Argentine shale. Galuccio said the companies would drill 35 wells during the test phase of the campaign. Under the terms of the deal, Petronas will cover $475m of the pilot phase’s $550m costs. YPF is sitting on billions of barrels of shale oil and gas in the Vaca Muerta, but it needs foreign p

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