Roundup: Rigi rules, Vaca Muerta permitting, hydrogen proposal

Rigi rules

Argentina will unveil on Wednesday secondary legislation governing the implementation of the Rigi investment incentives regime, President Javier Milei said on social media platform X.

Rigi could bring US$100bn in investment into Argentina, he said, adding that investment totaling US$50bn has been confirmed.

Rigi is part of Argentina’s framework economic reform law, known as Ley Bases, which was approved earlier this year.

Investors, among them oil and gas sector players, are waiting on the fine print.

Upstream permitting

Argentine driller Petrolera El Trébol is planning investment at Vaca Muerta shale play area Mata Mora Norte in Neuquén province.

The company, among the country’s smaller players, is seeking the environmental green light to build a primary production plant to increase treatment capacity, a notice published in the jurisdiction’s official gazette states.

Authorization is also sought for associated work including the drilling of four wells, pad installation and construction of an access road and power line.

Petrolera El Trébol is a unit of UK-registered Phoenix Global Resources, which in 2021 was awarded a 35-year unconventionals extraction concession for 43,372 acres corresponding to Mata Mora Norte. Authorities also extended by five years, to April 2026, exploration rights over 11,918-acre (4,820ha) block Mata Mora Sur.

The firm committed to spending US$110mn on pilot phase work, consisting of four pads of three horizontal wells each by March 2026. Nine wells were completed in 2022.

In May, Colombian driller GeoPark said it had signed an asset purchase agreement with Phoenix for a 45% working interest in Mata Mora Norte and Mata Mora Sur. GeoPark also obtains a 50% working interest in exploration blocks Confluencia Norte and Confluencia Sur in Río Negro province.

Under an agreed development program, Mata Mora Norte gross production is expected to reach 40,000boe/d by 2028. Gross output from Mata Mora Sur could reach up to 20,000boe/d by 2028, subject to exploration success, GeoPark said in a May statement.

Gross production at Mata Mora Norte in January-February was 11,207boe/d and an exit rate of 13,500-14,000boe/d is forecast for 2024.

Vaca Muerta is pulling in the bulk of upstream investment in Argentina, with producers eyeing increased exports. 

Hydrogen proposal

Argentine hydrogen association H2 Argentina has presented a regulatory proposal to spur development of a renewable hydrogen industry.

In parallel, the federal energy department has previously said a hydrogen bill was in the pipeline.

Argentina, given its abundant wind and solar resources and natural gas, is considered to hold great potential as a producer.

A special investment incentives framework is deemed necessary, given that the window for tapping benefits under the federal government’s Rigi framework is likely to be too narrow for large hydrogen projects, as they may take longer to reach the final investment decision stage.

Click here to read the H2 Argentina proposal