Santa Cruz governor Daniel Peralta signed a decree which makes the termination of the YPF concession contract in Los Perales-Las Mesetas, Cañadon vasco and Pico Truncado-El cordón areas official, and as Repsol YPF head Antonio Brufau remains in Argentina in hopes of solving the conflict and meeting with Government officials.
The decree will have to be ratified by the Santa Cruz lawmakers and the provincial Energy Institute was urged to “carry out all the necessary tasks to make sure the transfer of the concessions is done in an orderly way.” Los Perales-Las Mesetas represents 11 percent of national oil reserves.
The reasons behind the termination of YPF’s contract were explained by Santa Cruz’ Energy Institute head Juan Antonio Ferreiro. On Monday, he assured the oil giant showed a lack of investment during six years. The company presented a last minute investment plan but Daniel Peralta’s administration had already rejected the possibility of a satisfying plan. “There will be no chances of YPF presenting and investment plan that has at the very least a six year delay.”
YPF released a communiqué shortly before the company was due to present a new investment plan, stating that “YPF presented an investment plan for the 2012-2017 time period in eleven areas, which represent a total amount of US$4.36 billion, with 2249 new oil wells, and 2264 stopovers, thus ratifying the company’s investment programme.”
Fuente: Buenos Aires Herald