The Colombian oil company GeoPark will invest USD 14.5 million in a pilot plan within an area of the vast Vaca Muerta formation, official sources reported.
The investment will go to the Puesto Silva Oeste area in the province of Neuquén (southwest).
Neuquén’s governor, Rolando Figueroa, signed a decree authorizing the Argentine oil company Pluspetrol to cede to GeoPark its full stake in the hydrocarbon exploitation concession at Puesto Silva Oeste and in the concession for natural gas transport from Puesto Silva Oeste to the Neuba II pipeline.
The decree establishes that GeoPark will hold the Puesto Silva Oeste concession for a term of 35 years.
“The unconventional exploitation concession granted will include a pilot plan targeting the Vaca Muerta formation with an expected investment of USD 14.5 million over a period of three years,” the Neuquén government said in a statement.
This plan involves the drilling, completion, and production startup of a horizontal well with a 2,500-meter lateral and 42 fracture stages. If, after eight months of operation, the production profile proves adequate, GeoPark has committed to drilling up to two additional wells.
In addition to the investment in the pilot plan, the company will pay the province of Neuquén USD 4 million as an infrastructure bonus and USD 362,500 for corporate social responsibility obligations.
Last September, GeoPark, whose shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange, signed an agreement to acquire 100 % of Pluspetrol’s interest in the Loma Jarillosa Este and Puesto Silva Oeste blocks, both in Vaca Muerta.
