2023-08-28 08:05:00
The runner from the Alto Valle Oeste is still a supporting player in the unconventional world of Vaca Muerta that burst into the regional and national economy 10 years ago. The activity gave a more than necessary boost to the country and also to the region. It is undeniable that the economic spill is felt in the towns of Río Negro that make up that conglomerate, but the impact also has negative aspects that none of the governments in power might resolve. Moreover, the constant growth of the Neuquén Basin further undressed the lack of policies to nurture the Vaca Muerta phenomenon with infrastructure.
Of course, it also has an important positive side for the region, which is the impact on local economies, especially due to the high salaries paid in the sector.genuine job growth supported by the local workforce policy and the origin of many service companies that were born and consolidated in the heat of the unconventional.
There is an incipient and third face that is the exploitation of Vaca Muerta in Río Negro. The government announced the tender for three unconventional blocks that arouse great interest from companies and expectations from communities. The western province, especially in Catriel, grew in the heat of the exploitation of the conventional which still generates many resources for the province.
“First I read with surprise and then with great satisfaction the dissertation made by the governor-elect Alberto Weretilneck.”
Ariel Rivero, mayor of Campo Grande.
But with the arrival of the massive exploitation of the unconventional in the Neuquén Basin, it lost prominence, but opportunities were generated and especially the monetary injection that helped revive local economies. The specialists of the sector maintain that it is necessary to strengthen investment in the conventional sector and nurture the non-conventional sector with infrastructure to promote the region.
However, in this decade it was not possible to capitalize on the entire Vaca Muerta phenomenon: the lack of infrastructure, including transportation, improving national routes, and guiding energy policies to develop the AVO corridor is a pending matter. The municipal authorities of the cities that make up the circuit They agree that the spill has two opposite sides in Río Negro.
The mayor of Cipolletti, Claudio Di Tella, explained that the phenomenon has a significant economic impact on the town, not only in trade but also in the creation of new SMEs that provide services to the unconventional industry. But in turn The community chief also criticized the lack of infrastructure policies that mainly affects the town because it is a mandatory path to the basin.
“It is imperative that National Route 151 be fixed and that Route 22 be finished. The routes are collapsed and destroyed.”
Alberto Weretilneck, governor-elect of Río Negro.
“We need a road and rail network to be able to carry the supplies for the exploitation of Vaca Muerta. If we do not have a good infrastructure it becomes complex. I think things started the other way around here. An oil pipeline was built, which is very good for extracting production, but the trucks that carry the sand, the machinery for the exploitation, only go along highways. This creates a major inconvenience on routes 22 and 151. The exploitation of Vaca Muerta is very important for the region, but I think that following seeing it in practice that there are things that were done the other way around,” Di Tella said.
The mayor was very critical of the national government for the lack of works on the national routes: “Look, we continue to pay the consequences, they talk regarding routes in all parts of the country that do not have a Dead Cow and we at Cipolletti always continue to be delayed.” he added.
Cipolletti is the most affected in this scenario because the trucks with sand that go to Vaca Muerta pass through the roads that surround the town. They increase the fleet and deteriorate the road network.
Months ago, the first unconventional areas in the area were tendered and this generates great expectations in the corridor. In this line, the mayor of Cinco Salto expandedyes, Liliana Alvarado.
“It is undeniable that Vaca Muerta is a reality and it must be developed in Río Negro. We see a significant impact on job creation, but in other activities it generates a wage imbalance. Economically, the spill is noticeable, ”he indicated.
Alvarado, coinciding with the rest of the authorities, referred to the lack of works to improve the road network in the region. “The negative impact is observed in the routes”. And he slipped the possibility that a kind of economic compensation might be created for the localities that most affects the road machinery on the way to Vaca Muerta. At some point the municipality of Cipolletti proposed a canon, but it did not prosper.
The mayor of Fernández Oro, Mariano Lavín, agreed with his peers and valued the impact on the creation of companies. “In addition to generating well-paid quality employment and the appearance of formation of SMEs that perform different services in everything related to the hydrocarbon activity.”
“We see a significant impact on the generation of employment, but in other areas it generates a wage imbalance.”
Liliana Alvarado, mayor of Cinco Saltos
Lavín specified that the high income in the sector generates a higher level cost and that in that locality it is seen directly in the real estate offer. He added that it is very difficult to retain qualified technical personnel in the public sector because they cannot compete with the “juicy” oil salaries.
Vaca Muerta: Río Negro SMEs
The Vaca Muerta phenomenon generated a development opportunity for small and medium-sized companies in the region. Of course, it was the small and medium-sized firms from Neuquén that obtained the most profit from unconventional exploitation, which every month breaks production records and It only requires infrastructure to continue growing. It is known that distribution is the main bottleneck in the sector. The companies from Río Negro are gradually gaining more space, but it is still a marginal activity for SMEs from Río Negro in the Neuquén basin.
Ramiro Arceo, president of Casepe (Chamber of Oil Services Companies of Rio Negro), specified that for now in the conventional sector they only perceive the “collapse” of the investments made in Neuquén. “For a long time we have been trying to insert ourselves so that our companies have the opportunity to work in the Vaca Muerta areas. Neuquén is a province with a lot of history and many requirements and we still need to work to be more competitive,” he said.
“In addition to generating well-paid quality jobs and the appearance of formation of SMEs that perform different services.”
Mariano Lavín, mayor of Fernández Oro.
He announced that they are working with the government to be able to insert themselves in the exploratory processes of the unconventional areas that were tendered in Río Negro, in the Cinco Saltos area.
A new tender and order for works in the region
A few days ago, the governor-elect of Río Negro, Alberto Weretilneck, announced the tender for a new unconventional block in the province in Vaca Muerta. This is Loma Guadalosa, which is part of the Neuquén basin. It adds to the two blocks that were certified a couple of months ago and that will be the first shale explorations in the province. The only unconventional experience in Río Negro is that of Tight Gas from Estación Fernández Oro (EFO) operated by YPF.
The current senator made the announcement within the framework of the Energy Forum 2023 event organized by the United States Chamber of Commerce (Amcham). He placed special emphasis on the need to generate infrastructure in the region to accompany growth of the unconventional in Neuquén and the possible effect that it has in those areas of the Alto Valle Oeste zone.
“We are trying to insert ourselves so that our companies have the opportunity to work in the Vaca Muerta areas. We still need to work to be more competitive”.
Ramiro Arceo, president of the Chamber of Oil Service Companies of Rio Negro
“It is imperative that National Route 151 be fixed and that Route 22 be completed, because with Neuquén we have an infrastructure crisis because everything that enters and everything that leaves Vaca Muerta passes through Río Negro and the routes are collapsed and destroyed”he said at the time. He also referred to the need to revive the project of the train through the fence to Añelo.
All the mayors and mayors of the AOV joined this request. Especially Claudio Di Tella and the community chief of Campo Grande, Ariel Rivero. “I must confess that today I first read with surprise and then with great satisfaction part of the dissertation that Alberto Weretilneck delivered at an Energy Forum taking place in Buenos Aires,” Rivero said.
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