YPF and Sinopec eye Argentina projects

Argentina’s YPF signed a preliminary deal with Chinese national oil company Sinopec in Beijing this week that paves the way for the companies to work together in the Vaca Muerta shale and other projects in Argentina

“This agreement is a breakthrough for us because it opens new possibilities for YPF and the country in the particular context of the global energy scene, and it is very important that a player like Sinopec is interested in us as a partner of choice,” YPF chief executive Miguel Galuccio said in Beijing.  Few details of the potential cooperation between the companies were announced, and there was no timeline given for a final deal, but Sinopec has had Argentina and the Vaca Muerta shale, the most promising unconventional plays outside North America, in its sights for years.  In 2010, Sinopec bought buy Occidental Petroleum’s Argentine business for $2.45 billion, making the Chinese company Arge