Argentine crude, fuels export authorization requests climb 50% in April

Crude oil, gasoline and diesel export authorization requests from 23 companies were published in Argentina last month, down from 26 in March.

The number of individual requests climbed, however, to 48 from 32 in March.

The biggest single request was filed by driller Pan American Energy, seeking the green light to export 167,000m3 of Escalante crude from the Golfo San Jorge basin from June 10 to July 20, according to the federal energy department’s registry.

The requests correspond to different periods, many around 30 days, in May-August.

Overall associated volume is 907,500m3, down from 1.09Mm3 (million cubic meters) in March and 1.18Mm3 in February. Last month requests from neither Vista Energy nor Tecpetrol were published. In March, the two firms accounted for 248,000m3. 

Argentina’s biggest oil producers, including state-controlled YPF, are working to boost production and exports. 

The government’s economic reform bill, in congress, deregulates the local hydrocarbons market, a move that could spell the end for the State's export control process, corresponding to shipments via the Atlantic coast.

Oil is also exported to Chile via the 110,000b/d (17,488m3/d) capacity Otasa duct, linking Argentina's Neuquén basin to a refinery operated by Chile's national oil firm Enap.   

Argentine oil production climbed 7.3% year-on-year in March to 109,500m3/d, according to data from the General Mosconi energy institute think tank.

Breaking down the total, output of conventional oil slid 3.9% to 51,300m3/d, while unconventional production from the Vaca Muerta shale play rose 19.6% to 58,100m3/d.  

Work, namely Oldelval’s Duplicar project, is underway to boost dispatch capacity from the Neuquén basin, home to Vaca Muerta, to Buenos Aires. Elsewhere on the midstream map, YPF has started building the first stretch of a pipeline that falls under a wider project to transport oil from the basin to a planned oil export terminal at Punta Colorada in Río Negro province.

Argentine crude oil exports averaged 157,000b/d in January-March, up from 115,000b/d in the same period of 2023, driven by dispatches from the Neuquén and Golfo San Jorge basins, according to a report from local consultancy Economía & Energía. The Neuquén basin accounted for 72% of exports, up from 65% in the same period of last year.

EXPORT AUTHORIZATION REQUESTS PUBLISHED IN APRIL

Petronas E&P Argentina: One request for 80,000m3

Trafigura Argentina: One request for 15,000m3

Refinería del Norte: One request for 4,000m3

Pluspetrol: Two requests, for a total of 80,000m3

Chevron Argentina: One request for 15,000m3

Pan American Energy: Five requests, for a total of 130,200m3

Shell Argentina: Three requests, for a total of 69,000m3

Pan American Sur: Two requests, for a total of 43,000m3

GyP: Two requests, for a total of 10,500m3

President Petroleum: One request for 3,000m3

Total Austral: Two requests, for a total of 35,000m3

Petróleos Sudamericanos: Three requests, for a total of 12,900m3

Capex: One request for 6,000m3

Hattrick Energy: One request for 200m3

CHNC: One request for 120,000m3

CGC: Two requests, for a total of 120,000m3

Roch: Two requests, for a total of 2,734m3

Secra: Two requests, for a total of 539m3

Crown Point Energía: Two requests, for a total of 3,473m3

Desarrollos Petroleros y Ganaderos: Two requests, for a total of 1,554m3

Petrolera El Trébol: Two requests, for a total of 1,699m3

YPF: Eight requests, for a total of 143,900m3

Petroquímica Comodoro Rivadavia: One request for 8,000m3