January 1, 2022 [News Rebeat] – The Vaca Muerta lineup is exceeding oil company expectations. The levels of production and technical quality go beyond the forecasts of the companies. Oldelvala consortium that transports oil leaving Neuquén, is planning double its carrying capacity, reach 452,000 barrels per day. That plan is called “Double plus”.
Parallel to this growth, other companies are also starting work aimed at expanding the sector. Ebytem tankers will adapt its crude oil storage and export terminal into Puerto Rosales, Province of Buenos Aires, near Bahía Blanca. The investment it will make will exceed 500 million dollars.
Ebytem has storage tanks almost connected to the port of Bahía Blanca. The oil they receive goes to the oil company’s refineries or is destined for export. A very intense activity in this sense is expected towards the next year and the following, a fact also contemplated by the Ministry of the Economy.
Projections of the evolution of production in the Neuquén Basin and preliminary orders from various players in the oil sector lead Oiltanking Ebytem to believe that it will be received by potential customers.
“Our project is expansion of the maritime terminal and pumping station in Puerto Rosales. We are focused on expanding the current storage capacity and a sea freight system in which they will operate much larger ships”, the company communicated to the industry, with which they are trying to close the contracts for storage spaces.
Ebytem comes from a German shareholder who owns similar operations in several European countries. In Argentina it is associated with YPF, which owns 30% of the company. The operating concession expires in 2027. He asked the Ministry of Energy to grant him a 10-year extension.
The idea of this company is to “match” the growth in the availability of its tanks to that of Oldelval, which is expanding. For this it offers companies using this pipeline who are contracting the storage capacity. It also requires the purchase of “long-term critical supply items”, i.e. imports. The economy usually looks several times before authorizing them.
Oldelval carries 33,500 cubic meters of oil per day, but will increase to 72,000 cubic meters in two to three years when it completes its expansion. This projection implies that domestic oil production could grow to 700,000 barrels, a figure never seen before.
Oiltanking Ebytem charges a pre-agreed amount on oil that companies circulate in their tanks, which is then brought onto vessels that oil companies charter. Its annual revenue is about US$55 million.
The government plans a energy trade surplus of US$5,000 million in 2023 (because some of the gas will still have to be imported in the winter), but which will reach 8,000 million dollars in 2024, with less need to buy energy from abroad.
Companies share this prediction and are optimistic. In fact, there are more and more long-term energy projects. The supply of gas to the state has been contracted out until 2028 and investments are announced which will pay off in two to three years.
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