the history of discovery of Vaca Muerta is more than 90 years old. The American doctor in geology and paleontology Charles Edwin Weaver named the formation in this way in 1931 following finding characteristic outcrops in the Neuquén area known as Sierra de la Vaca Muerta. According to nearby inhabitants, it was said that in the field there was a corpse of the animalreason from which it derives its name.
The works that Weaver did were carried out over three years, between April 1923 and the same month of 1925, in the provinces of Neuquén and Mendoza. There the historical reference explored the territory that covers the Neuquén basin, where the formation is located. At that time, he was working under contract with Standard Oil of California, which is now Chevron.
The Sierra de Vaca Muerta is located south of the Agrio River, between the towns of Covunco and Las Lajas in Neuquén. However, the formation extends through the southwest of the province, the west of Mendoza, the south of Río Negro and the center of La Pampa: It covers regarding 36,000 square kilometers.
In the area of the mountains, in the countryside, a Mapuche community is located, according to what residents of Las Lajas explained to Power On. There he was and the skeleton of a cow was used as a reference. As it was passing by word of mouth, that is the reason that defines the name of the sector.
According to the Argentine Institute of Oil and Gas, Weaver only published his discoveries in 1931, including the so-called Vaca Muerta Formation. “It was, of course, something fabulous given that this now famous formation is the source rock for most of the gas and oil that is historically extracted from the Neuquén Basin”, they assured.
In this report the training record appears for the first time and still today it is considered one of the most important geological mappings of the Neuquén Basin. There he also elaborated on the discovery of Jurassic and Cretaceous lithostratigraphic units that are still in force such as the formations Los Molles, Las Lajas, Lotena, Auquilco, Vaca Muerta, Quintuco, Mulichinco and Agrio.
Years later, in 1946, Dr. Pablo Groeber also highlighted the importance of Vaca Muerta, while carrying out the geological survey of the northwestern region of Zapala. Thus found that all the fossils found in the sediments of the Vaca Muerta formation were of Jurassic age.
Eighty years later, the Vaca Muerta deposits were confirmed
The Vaca Muerta deposits were not confirmed until 2011eighty years later. At that time, Repsol YPF announced a “world class discovery” by discovering unconventional hydrocarbons in the formation. The depth ranges between 600 and 3,400 meters, with a thickness of 1,200 meters.
In general, the mistake of calling Vaca Muerta as a deposit often occurs, when it is a sedimentary geological formation.
In general, the mistake of calling Vaca Muerta as a deposit often occurs, when it is a sedimentary geological formation deposited in a sea of Jurassic age. Numerous deposits are located in it, defined as geological containers with the capacity to retain hydrocarbons.
Currently the training stop breaking your own records. Neuquén has already delivered 46 unconventional concessions and this year it is expected that more will be granted. On the other hand, the first quarter of 2023 reached the most intense level of work since the Argentine shale began to be developed. In turn, the highest production in 14 years was recorded in February.
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