The state-owned energy company YPF announced that it has partnered with Italy’s ENI to begin the process of searching for oil in the waters surrounding Uruguay. Through the agency of its state-owned oil company, Ancap, Uruguay has an ongoing exploration agreement in place with foreign companies in seven offshore zones. In a statement, it was reported that an agreement had been reached between YPF and ENI (which stands for Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi, or “National Hydrocarbons Corporation”) in relation to the possible exploration of a block that is located at a distance of around 200 kilometers from the coast of Uruguay. The area is almost 17,000 square kilometers in size and reaches a maximum depth of 4,100 meters.
The approaching months will see the execution of seismic studies in Italy, according to a statement made by Horacio Marín, the firm president and chief executive of YPF. The goal of these studies is to determine whether or not it is feasible to drill a well for the purpose of exploration. Although geological investigations have shown that there is less than a 50 percent chance of finding oil deposits in Uruguay, Marín asserts that the odds are actually higher than that. At a press conference in Montevideo that was held in conjunction with the Energy Summit 2025, which was organized by the El Observador newspaper, he declared, “You have to drill to see it; we still haven’t found oil.”
The National Administration of State-Owned Utilities and Public Services manages the refining of the petroleum that is imported into Uruguay, a nation that lacks any crude oil production. There is only a little probability that the state-owned firm will be able to find hydrocarbons.