Gigantic money investing in Vaca MuertaGigantic money (including Slim and Soros) investing in Vaca Muerta
The Vaca Muerta formation, located in Patagonia, is almost the size of Connecticut, which is 12,997 square kilometers, or 5,018 square miles, and holds an estimated 23 billion barrels of oil.(16.2 billion barrels of oil and 308 trillion cubic feet of gas)
From Juan Jose Aranguren, CEO, Royal Dutch Shell Argentina:
>>>Shell Argentina will increase its shale capital expenditures to about $500 million next year from $170 million at year-end, Chief Executive Officer Juan Jose Aranguren said. The company that mainly refines crude in Argentina will boost test drilling in Vaca Muerta with a long-term goal of producing light crude from its shale operations, he said.
Argentina will need $300 billion to develop Vaca Muerta in a six-year period that would make the country oil sufficient starting in 2020 and will keep producing for as many as 40 years, Aranguren said yesterday in an interview at his Buenos Aires office. Vaca Muerta, the world’s second-largest shale gas and the fourth-largest shale oil formation, is in Neuquen province in southwestern Argentina.<<<
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-10/shell-to-triple-argentine-shale-spending-as-winds-change.html
The worlds top energy companies with combined market caps in excess of $1.2 Trillion, and some of the worlds wealthiest men are scrambling to invest in Vaca Muerta:
Market Caps and amount invested:
Exxon 392B ($250 mil)
Chevron Corporation 214B ($1.5 Bil)
- If YPF’s initial US$1.5 billion pilot with Chevron is successful by March 2014, the joint venture will invest as much as US$16 Billion.
Bridas (private) Investing $1.5 billion
Royal Dutch Shell 229B ($500 Mil)
Total 131B (850 Mil)
Wintershall (BASF) 96B ($120 Mil)
Brasil Petrobas 73B (Investment amount unknown)
Dow Chemical 54B ($120 Mil)
EOG 47B (Investment amount unknown)
Apache 32B (Investment amount unknown)
YPF 9.4B (Carlos Slim owns 33 mil shares, and George Soros has 3.9 mil shares)
2 well leveraged TSX companies with attractive land positions:
(Market caps in millions)
Madalena 203M
Americas Petrogas 285M