Marcos Bulgheroni, CEO of Pan American Energy Group.
“We are for play all games, contribute, add “, Marcos Bulgheroni, CEO of Pan American Energy, said in what was one of the most anticipated speeches at the meeting that brought together key players in the oil industry this morning in Neuquén.
“We need think as a nation what we want and what the policy will be. Argentina has a clean matrix, we have less than 1% of emissions, there are gas resources. We have to play with gas, lithium, green energies, because we don’t know which technology will dominate, ”he launched, looking forward to the investments of the company his father founded in those sectors.
And to the surprise of many, spoke about prioritizing a gas pipeline in Brazil to promote gas exports to Brazil. “They need gas and we can do it,” he encourages. In passing, he referred to lithium: “This is a good opportunity. 20% of the world’s resources are here. We have the possibility to refine, extract and develop the battery industry because the terminals are in Argentina ”. PAE raises the ante on renewable energies in Argentina and Brazil. And in biofuels.
In turn, Sergio Affronti, CEO of YPF, said he thinks so double the size of the YPF in five years to export 130 thousand barrels per day. This year they will invest US $ 2,700 million.
Both determine what to do amid energy transfer and the social need implied by reducing emissions.
“Vaca Muerta is the engine of exports with reserves six times future consumption over the next 30 years and there are other basins for export efforts that must begin,” Bulgheroni invited.
“It’s a mistake to try to exclude the industry from energy transfer. We have incentives, access to financing and the social mandate to do so ”, he added about energy transfer.
At PAE they started by reviewing the emissions of their own operation. They reduced them by 30% in the case of methane. They will invest US $ 100 million in the Campana refinery to reduce emissions.
Bulgheroni and Affronti were preceded by Daniel Gerold, one of the world’s leading oil and gas experts. Gerold brought a lime and some sand. Thus, he argued that oil prices would remain at current levels, that is, high, in the coming years, which would encourage more investment and development.
But he warned that this year the gas import deficit will reach US $ 4.7 billion.
Gerold is already excited about his recovery in 2021 and is still continuing to produce oil and gas. “There is good reaction but far reaching if you look at the 1998 levels. The Argentine economy has been in the same place for ten years, the recovery is not enough for the country’s problems ”, he argued.
In his view, energy demand goes hand in hand with growth. In the country, the 86% of energy consumption depends on hydrocarbons but the good news is that 56% is natural gas that emits less and also polluting coal is not used. “Few countries have a natural gas matrix,” Gerold insisted, noting that the energy sector represents 7% of GDP with 140,000 high -quality jobs. And he recalled that Vaca Muerta has already accumulated US $ 25 billion in investment.
“There is productivity improvements with high professional quality and we are in the top ten in the world “Gerold pointed out.
He said that with hydrocarbons there is a very low cost of supply. And estimate carefully because natural gas is the least.
“Argentina has a better starting point, but what will it cost, how will it be financed?” Gerold asked, arguing that “Consumers only pay 20% of the cost of energy and if rates are updated, half won’t be able to pay and the rest won’t be able to pay.”
In his view, the way is to generate gas and oil for local and export purposes and help resolve the dollar restriction.
“You have to be serious, don’t change the policy in every government, and the vicious circle can be reversed,” Gerold concludes.
Source: Clarin
