Chevron Says It Wants to Partner YPF in Argentine Shale

Chevron Corp. (CVX) said today it wants to partner with YPF SA (YPFD), Argentina’s biggest oil producer, in developing the company’s Vaca Muerta shale formation.

“We are open to strategically partnering with YPF,” Ali Moshiri, president of Chevron’s Africa and Latin America exploration and production unit, told reporters in Buenos Aires. “We are looking forward to working with the government.”

Moshiri spoke after YPF Chief Executive Officer Miguel Galuccio said in a speech that the state-controlled company will unveil its contract model on Aug. 30 for three types of partnerships to develop Vaca Muerta. YPF, seized from Repsol SA in April, needs financial and operational partners, he said.

Vaca Muerta is a Connecticut-size area in southern Argentina that may contain at least 23 billion barrels. Galuccio described the shale formation as the “tip of the iceberg” for YPF’s oil projects. The company, based in Buenos Aires, has drilled 45 wells at the shale development.

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner nationalized YPF in April, saying Madrid-based Repsol under- invested since it acquired YPF in 1999.

YPF also plans to drill for coal-bed methane gas in Buenos Aires Province, Gallucio said today.

To contact the reporter on this story: Pablo Gonzalez in Buenos Aires at pgonzalez49@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Attwood at jattwood3@bloomberg.net