The Los Toldos I South block is located 85km northwest of Añelo and 175km northwest of Neuquén city.
ExxonMobil Exploration Argentina operates the block with 80% stake while other partners include Gas y Petroleo del Neuquén and Americas Petrogas Argentina (APASA) (Tecpetrol), each holding 10% interest.
ExxonMobil plans to initially invest about $200m for a pilot project. The work involves brings up to seven wells to production as well as construction of production facilities and development of export infrastructure.
Upon successful result of pilot project, the partners will proceed with the staged development of approximately 300 horizontal wells of up to 3,000m in length.
ExxonMobil’s XTO Energy president Sara Ortwein said: “We are very optimistic about this resource and the provincial government’s approval enables us to do the necessary work to continue expanding our operations.”
According to estimates, the block will have a production capacity of 11 million cubic meters per day of gas at full production.
ExxonMobil Argentina general manager Daniel De Nigris said: “ExxonMobil has been in Argentina for more than 100 years, and an active player in the Neuquén basin since 2010.
“We are actively analyzing additional opportunities to accelerate gas production in other blocks and look forward to making further progress.”
To date, the company claims to have invested more than $500m in exploration and early development of its Vaca Muerta operations.
