Argentina's Yacimientos PetrolÃferos Fiscales, the country's largest oil company, is investing in Colombia. YPF SA has agreed to partner for exploring for oil in Colombia with Canada's Alange Energy Corp., as investors increasingly target Colombia on the possibility of it becoming South America's third largest producer of oil after Venezuela and Brazil.
Buenos Aires-based YPF will take a stake in an exploration venture at the Catguas oil block in eastern Colombia in addition to spending as much as $23 million to explore and develop its Carbonera natural gas concession as well, and is considering jointly exploring and developing other Argentinean concessions, Mercosur Press reported.
Expanding its western hemispheric horizons, YPF also plans this year to start drilling off the coast of Guyana to tap new reserves amid concerns about Argentina's aging fields.
Besides developing projects in neighboring countries, Argentina has been assiduously exploring its indigenous energy reserves. Neuquen province governor Jorge Sapag said that if his province could locate about $2 billion in natural gas investments, then Argentina wouldn't need to import liquefied natural gas from Qatar.
Once a net natural gas exporter, beginning in 2004 Argentina began gas imports when rising domestic demand surpassed the country's declining output, securing foreign gas supplies from Bolivia and Trinidad and Tobago.
Sapag noted that Argentina's YPF SA intends to invest $600 million - $1 billion to prospect for hydrocarbons in Neuquen through the end of 2012.
By. Joao Peixe, Deputy Editor OilPrice.com
Joao is a writer for Oilprice.com More