Conventional Oil Reconfigures Operators with 76,500 Barrels in Transition

Argentina's conventional oil business is undergoing a reconfiguration. Over the past twelve months, 76,500 barrels per day distributed across 20,157 wells formally changed operators, a movement equivalent to 24% of the country's conventional production.

The process involved 11 divesting companies and 20 acquiring companies, with a central role played by YPF's exit from mature areas. The company transferred blocks that contributed 49,300 barrels per day and comprised 14,391 wells, the largest portfolio transfer recorded by the local industry in the past two years.

Among the firms that assumed assets are PECOM, Clear Petroleum, Patagonia Resources, Quintana E&P and ROCH. Also notable was the integration of Aconcagua Energía into Tango Energy, an operation that incorporated 15 concessions in Río Negro, Neuquén and Mendoza.

Water as the Recovery Driver

The strategy of new operators aims to improve the efficiency of mature fields through cost adjustments, artificial lift optimization and more intensive fluid management. Across traditional basins, the average ratio reaches 5.9 cubic meters of water per cubic meter of oil.

In the San Jorge Gulf, which contributes 165,100 barrels per day and accounts for 63% of conventional crude, the ratio rises to 20.5 to 1, with a water cut of 95.4%. In this context, secondary and tertiary recovery play a key role. Assisted recovery currently generates 19,127 barrels per day, and PECOM holds 58.4% of that volume after assuming operations at Manantiales Behr.

The conventional system has 23,825 wells in effective extraction, but also registers 10,360 inactive facilities and 22,072 abandoned ones. By production, behind the San Jorge Gulf are the conventional Neuquén Basin, with 74,100 barrels per day; the Cuyana Basin, with 13,300; the Austral Basin, with 8,800; and the Northwest Basin, with 2,700.

Anticlinal Grande-Cerro Dragón, operated by Pan American Energy, remains the leading conventional block, with 57,300 barrels per day from 6,063 wells. If the adjacent Cerro Dragón concession is included, the complex reaches 65,800 barrels per day and 6,688 wells. In individual productivity, Chachahuén Sur stands out with 26 barrels per day per well, compared to a national average of 14.3.