Austral Basin
Most of our hydrocarbon production and reserves are currently concentrated in the Austral basin. The Austral basin is located in the extreme south of South America, and partially covers the Argentine provinces of Santa Cruz and Tierra del Fuego, the Magellan Strait and the southwest region in Chile. The Austral basin is comprised of approximately 230,000 km2, 85% of which are located in Argentina.
Our production and development activities in Austral Basin are conducted pursuant to 26 production concessions and three exploration permits, which expire between 2026 and 2058 and represent more than 67% of our total production and our reserves base.
In January 2018, we extended our unconventional hydrocarbons production concession in the Campo Indio Este-El Cerrito block for an additional 35-year term, which represents 41% of our production as of December 2021.
Sinopec Acquisition
In June 30, 2021, we acquired Sinopec Argentina Exploration and Production. With this acquisition, we increased our production by more than 50,000 Barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe), balancing our product mix to approximately 63% gas and 37% oil (previously 85% and 15% respectively).
The assets incorporated in the acquisition cover more than 4,600 km2, most of them located in Golfo San Jorge basin and Cuyana basin. The acquisition included a stake in Termap, the port terminal operator in Caleta Olivia (Santa Cruz) and Caleta Córdova (Chubut).
As of December 2021, we increased our oil production to more than 3,200 m3 per day (m3/d) and our gas production to 5,600 Mm3 per day (Mm3/d). Additionally, proven reserves increased more than 100% (from 59 MM boe to approximately 122 MM boe).
Golfo San Jorge Basin
Golfo San Jorge basin is located in the extreme south of South America and covers the north area of the province of Santa Cruz and the south of the province of Chubut. The basin has a surface of approximately 70,022 km2, and its 100% is located in Argentina.
Approximately 27.3% of our total oil and gas production and 47% of our net proven reserves are located in Golfo San Jorge basin. We have direct participation in 15 blocks and operate in approximately 15 oil and gas fields. In December 2021, we successfully entered into an agreement with the province of Santa Cruz to extend all the concessions in Golfo San Jorge basin area for another ten years.
Cuyana Basin
Our exploration and exploitation areas located in Cuyana basin cover a total surface of 1,022 km2. We operate in two concessions and have participation through UTE contracts in the three remaining concessions, operated by our partners.
Approximately 5% of our total oil and gas production and 3% of our net proven reserves are located in Cuyana Basin.
Northwestern Basin
We own interests in the Aguaragüe block in the Northwestern basin for a total of approximately 4,031 km2. To date, our joint arrangement partners have obtained 3D seismic data for 7% of Aguaragüe.
We own a 5.0% interest in the Aguaragüe block through a joint arrangement with YPF, Tecpetrol S.A., Petrobras Argentina and Ledesma S.A. Pursuant to the joint arrangement agreement, Tecpetrol S.A. conducts all of the operations in the block. The exploitation concession of this block is held by YPF, and expires in 2027.
Infrastructure
We own several infrastructure facilities in the Austral basin and Golfo San Jorge basin, including crude oil and natural gas treatment plants, gathering systems, batteries for collecting fluids at each field and more than 5,000 km of interconnection pipelines to transport production to treatment, storage and delivery facilities.
We have our own seaport, Punta Loyola (Austral basin), and a participation in Termap, operator of the seaports in Caleta Olivia (Santa Cruz) and Caleta Córdova (Chubut). This allows us to access both local and international crude oil markets.
Moreover, our installed infrastructure is scattered across many of the oil and gas fields we operate in both basins, allowing us to leverage our existing infrastructure to produce oil and gas in new discoveries, including smaller discoveries, and rapidly capture their economic value.
In February 19, 2020, we inaugurated our “Sur Río Chico” underground gas storage facility, the second such facility in Argentina, which will allow us to inject approximately 1,000 Mm3/d of natural gas during the summer season and extract approximately 2,000 Mm3/d during the winter season.
