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To: tom pope who wrote (142421)	12/8/2010 3:01:05 AM
From: elmatador	Respond to of 206159

Argentina group unveils shale gas find. Announced a 4,500bn cubic feet shale gas discovery in Patagonia that it vowed would guarantee the country’s gas supplies for “many decades”. The company, controlled by Spain’s Repsol, said on Tuesday that it was teaming up with Brazilian mining group Vale in a $140m deal to begin developing the discovery, which is in Neuquén province. Argentina group unveils shale gas find By Jude Webber in Buenos Aires Published: December 7 2010 20:08 \| Last updated: December 7 2010 20:08 Argentina’s flagship energy company YPF has announced a 4,500bn cubic feet shale gas discovery in Patagonia that it vowed would guarantee the country’s gas supplies for “many decades”. The company, controlled by Spain’s Repsol, said on Tuesday that it was teaming up with Brazilian mining group Vale in a $140m deal to begin developing the discovery, which is in Neuquén province. EDITOR’S CHOICE US independents to buy into shale oil boom - Dec-07US gas export plan sparks price fears - Dec-07AGL to buy gas distributor for $2.4bn - Dec-07US energy firms rush into shale oil projects - Sep-28It invited other companies to help tap the rest of what it believes are vast energy riches. Vale is seeking to secure gas to develop its $4.3bn Río Colorado potassium project in the nearby province of Mendoza. “We have been able to discover huge volumes of non-conventional gas in Loma La Lata, which opens up interesting development perspectives for the country,” said Sebastián Eskenazi, YPF’s chief executive. He declined to confirm media reports that the area could contain as much as 250,000bn cubic feet of gas, but said that it “could permit Argentina to have energy and development for many decades to come”. The 4,5000bn cubic feet discovery – which compared with Argentina’s annual consumption of 1,500bn cubic feet – was enough to take the country’s current gas reserves from six now to 16 years, he said. Argentina’s reserves are around 12,000bn-13,000bn cubic feet, analysts say. The news, which sent Repsol YPF shares up more than 3 per cent at one stage, comes as Repsol plans to float 15 per cent of YPF. The Eskenazi family’s Petersen group is also preparing to exercise an option to raise its stake in YPF from nearly 15 per cent to 25 per cent. YPF is also preparing a $600m bond issue. Analysts welcomed news of the discovery in a country dogged by declining reserves and where investment has been deterred by heavy government regulation and a domestic pricing regime that lags behind international prices. Until prices were overhauled, and Buenos Aires outlined long-term policies and created a stable framework for the industry, “the likelihood is that Argentina is going to keep on importing more and more gas,” said Daniel Montamat, an ex-energy secretary. So-called tight and shale gas is in non-porous rock and is expensive to extract. The US turned itself around from being an importer to covering its energy needs after developing unconventional gas – but that took 30 years, Emilio Apud, another ex-energy secretary noted.