Oil and Gas

Equinor and ExxonMobil are among the winners of Argentina’s offshore round

Apr, 17, 2019 Posted by datamarnews

Week 201917

Norwegian oil and gas giant Equinor and American ExxonMobil are among the winners of Argentina’s first offshore licensing round which took place yesterday in Buenos Aires. Equinor has added seven offshore exploration blocks to its portfolio, while ExxonMobil has added three.

We are very pleased to succeed in this competitive licensing round and to have added significant prospective acreage to our exploration portfolio. These awards fit with our exploration strategy, providing us with access at scale in basins with high impact potential. #Argentina ??

— Equinor (@Equinor) 17 April 2019

Equinor won five blocks as operator and participated in winning bids with YPF and Total who will operate two other blocks. ExxonMobil will operate three blocks, MLO 113, MLO 117 and MLO 118.

BLOCK NAME	SIZE	PARTNERSHIP
MLO 121	4291 km²	Equinor (operator, 100%)
MLO 123	3787 km²	Total (operator, 37.5%), YPF (37,5%) and Equinor (25%)
CAN 102	8965 km²	YPF (operator, 50%), Equinor (50%)
CAN 108	2882km2	Equinor (operator, 100%)
CAN 114	7079 km2	Equinor (operator, 50%), YPF (50%)
AUS 105	2157 km²	Equinor (operator, 100%)
AUS 106	2283 km²	Equinor (operator, 100%)
MLO 113	–	ExxonMobil (operator, 70%), Qatar Petroleum (30%)
MLO 117	–	ExxonMobil (operator, 70%), Qatar Petroleum (30%)
MLO 118	–	ExxonMobil (operator, 70%), Qatar Petroleum (30%)

A total of 38 blocks were on offer, while only 18 received bids to conduct exploration. According to BNAmericas, four of the bidding companies have no previous operations in Argentina: Mitsui, BP, ENI, and Tullow. The rest are Qatar Petroleum, Equinor, ExxonMobil, Total, YPF, Shell, Pluspetrol, Tecpetrol, and Wintershall.