The story behind the first well in the province

2023-10-28 03:10:00

Every October 29, Neuquén celebrates another year of the discovery of oil in the province. It is a fact that marked with fire the commitment to the hydrocarbon resources of Neuquén, which would later lead to the promising development of Vaca Muerta. Find out what the work was like for Well 1 in the province with the highest oil production in the country.

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For the drilling of the first well, the General Directorate of Mines, Geology and Hydrology delivered the Fauck drilling rig to the call “Team Patria” by engineer Enrique Cánepa. It was located in Plaza Huincul, the place indicated by the German geologist Juan Keidel and by Anselmo Windhausen years before, as cited in the book «Petroleum in Neuquén. 100 years of history (1918-2018) »

Since there was no railroad stop there, The unloading operations of the equipment and supplies were carried out 22 kilometers away., at the Challacó station. Upon arrival they had to be transported in carts pulled by oxen and mules. In October 1915, the packages with the Fauck elements arrived.a steam-powered percussion rig with a wooden tower, with the capacity to drill up to 500 meters.

A problem to be solved was the lack of labor for the first jobs. For this, the government of Neuquén decided send 30 prisoners from the provincial jail to help those who would carry out the drilling which began on February 17, 1916. The machine’s progress was slow for different reasons, such as lack of experience and complications derived from the terrain.

By the end of 1916 they reached a depth of 260 meters and in August 1917 they only reached 327 meters. This slow development brought the idea of ​​breaking camp and abandoning the well. It was then that some workers They approached the well with a kerosene lantern to check a gasket and moved the column of tubed pipes.

1916

drilling of well 1 began, which took more than two years to complete

Raising it a few centimeters, “they turned it to isolate the circulation of water between the columns and placed a braid of bags under the column clamp. Suddenly There was an explosion, the lantern went out and a small blue flame remained. around the well that was quickly put out. There was gas in the well. Hopes returned and efforts were redoubled«, recreated the authors of the book.

At 516 meters, traces of oil appeared. Thus, Cánepa doubled resources and on October 29, 1918 the machine reached the planned horizon, between 603 and 606 meters. «At 609 meters the discovery was made official of oil, lighter in nature and of better quality than that of Comodoro Rivadavia,” they expressed. Two years and eight months had passed since the work began.

Due to the location of the discovery, the National Executive Branch established a reserve for a total of 8,853 hectares. Within this area, called the “Fiscal Octagon”, exploration, search and mining property permits were prohibited. However, Requests for search permits increased in nearby areaswhere 47 companies settled following the promising discovery.

Well 1, whose drilling reached a final depth of 1,060 meters for subsoil study purposes, It cost regarding 110,000 pesos and until the end of 1918 had a total output of 12,655 liters., according to the reconstruction made by the book. Between January 30, 1919 and August 30, 1922, six more wells were dug in Plaza Huincul.

The first well reached a final depth of 1,060 meters. Photo: courtesy.

Plaza Huincul was developed through the drilling of new wells and operations, and By 1921 it reached 600 inhabitants. However, development was slow until the creation of the state company YPF, following which production levels increased significantly. By 1932, Plaza Huincul already had 139 wells in operation.

The discovery of oil in Neuquén 105 years ago and the creation of YPF in 1922 were key factors in the path of the Argentine oil industry. It is a story that, as happened in the first welltraveled a winding path but, without a doubt, hopeful.

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Neuquén Oil Day: the international context that underlined the importance of the resource

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In 1916 Hipólito Yrigoyen was elected. The international context was marked by the first world war started in 1914. Among other consequences, there was a significant increase in coal prices, an almost exclusive source of the Argentine energy matrix, and a drastic reduction in imports from England.

For this reason, the previous year, the Minister of Agriculture of President Victorino de la Plaza, promoted the state development of oil activity. The idea of ​​the need for the State to control the exploitation of oil and the sale of fuel It spread among intellectuals, university students, officials and the written press.

Oil was a key factor in defining the war, which strengthened its position as a strategic resource and as a critical element of geopolitical security. At the same time, the internal combustion engine expanded the demand for fuel. This generated a global bid between the oil companies of the powers for control of reserveswhich ended up also reaching Latin America.

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