Argentina announces energy investments worth more than 300 million dollars

Buenos Aires, 17 Mar The Argentine Government announced on Thursday an investment plan worth more than 300 million dollars for the exploitation of oil and gas wells in the south of the country, amid a “global energy crisis” caused, among other factors, by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This announcement came after a meeting between Economy Minister Martín Guzmán and General Fuel Company (CGC) president Hugo Eurnekian, where both highlighted the South American country's “significant energy potential”. During the meeting, the head of CGC also detailed the implementation of an investment plan valued at $128 million in producing wells in the Southern Basin, an initiative financed in September 2021 by placing negotiable obligations in the local market, where the Sustainability Guarantee Fund (FGS) ) subscribed 100 million dollars. “These funds will be used for the exploitation of gas blocks and the development of unconventional tight gas resources, through the drilling, completion and commissioning of 33 new wells in the Southern Basin of the province of Santa Cruz (south of the country),” the Argentine Ministry of Economy said in a statement. In this regard, the Minister of Economy acknowledged that Argentina “faces great challenges due to the global (energy) crisis”, but it also has the opportunity to promote the development of a key sector to “make the entire productive matrix of the country more competitive”. “We have been making progress under conditions that allow increased investment, both from macroeconomic stabilization policies, investment in energy infrastructure and the role that the FGS of the Anses (National Social Security Administration) is playing in order to allow more financing for investments in Argentina in the real economy and in particular in energy,” Guzmán said. According to the Ministry of Economy, the investment project announced today forecasts that total foreign exchange income from major exports and import substitution over the projected 20 years will reach $734 million, of which 35.5 million dollars correspond to oil exports and another 698.5 million dollars to substitution of gas imports. During this period, total natural gas obtained could amount to 2 billion cubic meters, equivalent to 4.4 per cent of production recorded in 2020, according to government forecasts. CHIEF jacb/la