US oil companies with expectations of investing in Vaca Muerta, but also with complaints

Economy Minister Sergio Massa leaves Washington and goes this Friday to Houston, one of the world’s oil and energy capitals, where companies in the sector They await you with pretensions, but also with expectations that can reverse the “great pessimism” reigning.

Massa began his tour of the U.S. capital on Tuesday and has since met with senior administration officials Joe Biden, who have shown interest in Argentina being an ally on food and energy issues, at a time when there is a food crisis. global supply and price increases due to the war in Ukraine.

The minister repeats it in all fields energy is one of the fundamental pillars of development from Argentina (together with proteins, rare earths and the knowledge economy) and for this reason has organized several meetings in Washington with companies in these sectors.

Also, before leaving for Houston, Massa met José Fernandez, US Assistant Secretary of Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment.

In Houston, Massa will participate in a morning meeting organized by the Center for Energy Studies of the Baker Institute, by Rice University, regarded as the main plant in the world for the analysis of energy problems. This center is a go-to forum for the industry and usually organizes events where academics, experts, presidents and leaders from around the world are invited to talk about energy issues. Today it is said from there to Clarionethere is interest in what Massa can offer.

The minister will speak there in front of the executives of major US companies with interests in Vaca Muerta such as Chevron, Shell, Exxon, Total, BP, among others, and there will also be investment analysts on energy issues. Massa will be accompanied by the Secretary of Energy, Flavia Royon, and by the president of YPF, Pablo Gonzalez.

The meeting will be piloted by the directors of the Baker Institute, Francisco Monaldi and Mark Jones. In dialogue with Clarione, Jones said he is in permanent contact with oil and energy companies, who know for sure that Argentina has great potential.

“But the problem for them is that lately they haven’t had anyone to talk to to glimpse the future, to have the confidence to make the medium- and long-term investments they really need to exploit Vaca Muerta’s wealth,” he says.

Jones notes that months ago there was a “Great pessimism” of companies with interests in Argentina, “Probably worse than in 2001”, during the profound crisis that our country has experienced. He also points out that Massa’s arrival in the Economy portfolio, with its own weight and broad internal support, generates expectations that the situation will change.

“For companies Massa represents hope that Argentina can recover some stability so that it can have a long term to make large-scale investments in Vaca Muerta, both in natural gas and oil. There are other sectors that are here in Houston, but oil and gas are the two dominant sectors, but we also have a very important renewable sector that has an interest in Argentina for lithium in Salta and Jujuy ”.

Investors, Jones says, need “some political stability or a partner they can talk to confidently with, and the promise that person makes is a guarantee that they can trust the country’s future.” They don’t know if Massa will be able to fill that role, but at least they feel he is a pragmatist and it has more power to change things than its predecessors in government.

However, not all of them are roses for the minister because he isThe meeting will be full of claims, which Jones lists: “The gap between the dollar and the peso, the inability to send dividends abroad, complications in obtaining supplies for production, concern for the future of the Néstor Kirchner pipeline”, As well as the construction of liquefied gas plants, he points out.

“More than anything else, what interests them are the conditions for investing and the guarantees that they will respect any contract if they sign”He added.

The oil companies want the same as the rest of the companies Massa met with: clear rules. On Wednesday, the minister heard similar statements during a meeting at the Chamber of Commerce in Washington where about 35 companies participated.

As told to Clarione one of the businessmen present, “Massa presented his plan, talked about the potential of energy and protein and his idea of ​​rearranging the economy with each sector, it was good,” he said.

However, the businessmen asked the transfer of dividends, shares, the value of the peso against the dollar, import difficulties and the demand for improvements in the export system, the main issues of concern. The minister made no promises, he asked “patience”but it has made available its officials to hear the specific statements of each sector.

The meeting was attended by representatives of companies such as Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, Bayer, Bristol Myers Squibb, Cargill, Chevron, Citi, DHL, Dow Chemical, Excelerate Energy, General Motors, Gilead Sciences, HSBC, John Deere, Merck & Co., Inc. Metlife, Pfizer Inc., Google and Procter & Gamble and Spotify, among others.

From Houston, the minister will return to Washington at the weekend to prepare for Monday’s meeting with David Lipton of the Treasury and the CEO of the International Monetary Fund. Kristalina Georgiev.