Argentina’s oil production declined 1.6% in January on the year, extending a slide that started in 1998, energy ministry data shows. Crude production dropped to 524,947 b/d in January from 533,261 b/d in January 2015, and was 1.4% less than the 532,228 b/d in December, the ministry said. This means that January’s production was 38% less than the record 847,000 b/d in 2004. “Most of the fields in Argentina are mature and they are declining in production,” Alejandro Gagliano, a partner at Giga Consulting, an oil industry consulting firm in Buenos Aires, said Tuesday. “A lot of investment is needed to sustain production.” Argentina has not attracted much oil investment since a 2001-02 economic crisis ushered in a populist-left government whose policies cut profit potential and made it harder to plan business. These included price caps, trade restrictions and bans on paying dividends abroad. Article continues below… Crude Oil […]