Vaca Muerta shale oil-drilling will slow as companies cut spending. Oil-drilling activity in Argentina’s Vaca Muerta shale patch is anticipated to decline in the short term as firms curtail expenditures, according to the chief executive officer of the region’s largest crude producer YPF SA. “We might have to pull out a couple of fracking crews,” stated CEO Horacio Marín during an event in Buenos Aires on Tuesday, “which is basically due to the slowdown we are observing from international partners.”
Marín pointed to declining oil prices and rival acquisitions that have absorbed capital as factors contributing to the slowdown, noting that the active drilling fleet in the Vaca Muerta may decrease by five or six rigs. As of July 31, Argentina had 38 rigs engaged in drilling activities aimed at extracting both crude oil and natural gas. This figure represents a 16 percent decrease compared to the same period last year, as reported by Baker Hughes Co.
Marin’s comments arise at a time when the expansion of the US shale sector, which Argentina aspires to replicate from its 2010s boom, is decelerating due to increasing OPEC+ production and an uncertain demand forecast that is exerting pressure on crude prices. Marín asserted that, in the long run, Vaca Muerta, where drillers aim to significantly increase daily crude production to one million barrels within a few years, will ultimately be successful. “In my view, the Vaca Muerta is on an irreversible trajectory,” he stated.