Ten years ago, Colombia and Argentina were together at the starting line of developing their unconventional reserves. Today, that country is second.
Throughout the 21st century, Argentina has gone through various economic crises, partly due to the loss of energy self-sufficiency, having to resort to the import of hydrocarbons. In 2014, for example, its energy imports reached 11.2 million dollars, that is, resources equivalent to 55% of soybean export revenues; they practically produced soybeans to buy hydrocarbons.
For this reason, when attention is drawn in Colombia to the importance of energy self-sufficiency, it is not alarmism. Already in the 1970s, the country experienced it: with bags of coffee, foreign currency was obtained to import hydrocarbons. That history should not be repeated.
The reference to Argentina is important because 10 years ago both countries decided to develop their unconventional deposits through fracking. Argentina did it, Colombia has not yet. In Vaca Muerta, more than a thousand wells have been drilled, and investments of US$22 billion are underway in seven of the largest projects.
Only Fortín de Piedra, the most important field in the production of unconventional gas in the country, from the company Tecpetrol, produces 600 million cubic feet of gas per day, half of Colombia's production.
And Argentina produces four times more gas than we do.
Fortín de Piedra is located in Vaca Muerta, which is not really a place, but a geological formation in the Province of Neuquén, Argentina, on the border with Chile.
Although it has been known since 1927 that it houses oil deposits, only in 2011 was its enormous potential recognized. Today, the proven oil reserves in the area are 16 billion barrels (Colombia's are 1.958 billion) and gas reserves are 308 trillion cubic feet (Colombia, 3.7 trillion).
That is, Argentina has oil reserves for 85 years and gas for 150 years; Colombia, for 6.2 and 9.8 years, respectively. Thus, Vaca Muerta ranks second in the world in gas potential and fourth in oil, among unconventional deposits.
Argentina has regained energy self-sufficiency for the summer season, with surpluses to export to Chile and Brazil, and is close to achieving it in winter. The key: political will, government decision, and support from broad sectors of society.
The development of Vaca Muerta is now a national purpose, of the parties and institutions. Most Argentinians are interested in the energy issue and understand the importance of this reservoir.
Meanwhile, our country is making little progress.
Rather, it is moving towards the loss of energy self-sufficiency and towards a complex fiscal situation, with consequences in the economic and social realms. And all this is due to not having even allowed the exploratory phase of these reservoirs to validate their potential.
We have been at this for 10 years, which explains why out of 12 companies with knowledge and experience in fracking that showed interest in the country a decade ago, only three remain. The others have withdrawn.
The country has managed to maintain production close to 900,000 barrels, optimizing mature fields with stimulation techniques known as enhanced recovery; there is potential here, but limited.
Offshore there is gas, but in ultra-deep waters, and we are still waiting to see if it will be profitable to extract it, hopefully, but also, these are long-term projects; and new basins do not generate much interest, as companies prefer known environments to avoid more consultations and blockades. The fourth option is unconventional reservoirs, using fracking.
Some will say it is a choice between two evils, the energy and fiscal debacle or fracking. It is not: it is a choice between a known technique for extracting oil and gas, with minimal, identified, and preventable risks, and increasingly used worldwide (30% of gas production and 9% of oil comes from these reservoirs), or blocking it with fallacious arguments and legal maneuvers, leaving those resources buried, with disastrous consequences for the country. That is the dilemma.
Colombia has the required regulation for the use of fracking, confirmed by the Commission of Experts, and is ready to initiate four research pilots in Magdalena Medio and the Cesar-Ranchería basin which, if successful, would represent an additional 450,000 barrels of oil and gas reserves for more than 25 years; annual investments of US$ 5 billion and tax revenues of $5 trillion per year for 25 years, not counting job creation and the growth of other economic sectors, resulting from productive linkages in the operating regions.
Ten years have passed since Argentina and Colombia said yes to the development of their unconventional reservoirs. Argentina did not hesitate and is developing them.
It resolved the concerns, prepared its regulation, and opened the doors, with the state-owned YPF, to several of the most important companies in the world. Argentina, after five years of saying yes to fracking, proved that it could be done responsibly, environmentally, and socially sustainably. Today it is the lifeline of that country.
Colombia, on the contrary, continues to delay the decision, a victim of misinformation and lack of will, losing precious time in a closing window of opportunity.
Colombian Association of Oil and Gas