Argentina has consistently been hyped as the location where the next shale revolution will unfold. The unfolding has taken some time, but progress in shale production is starting to take off in the South American nation. In October, state-owned YPF announced plans to spend $30 billion on shale investment over the next five years in an effort to scale up oil and gas production from the Vaca Muerta shale. The company hopes to boost shale output by 150 percent over that timeframe. Key to that push is lowering development costs. YPF says that it can produce a barrel of oil equivalent (boe) for $13, and it aims to reduce that to $10/boe by 2020, which the company says would make it competitive with shale production from the Permian or Eagle Ford. Part of the cost cutting drive, the company and the government believe, will be lowering labor costs. Earlier […]