Vista Energy, the oil company of Miguel Galuccio, announced on Wednesday the acquisition of 100% of the capital of Petronas E & P Argentina, the local subsidiary of the Malay state giant, which has a 50% participation in the unconitioned concession La Amarga Chica (Lach), one of the five most productive blocks of Shale Oil in the heart of Vaca Muerta.
With this operation communicated to New York and Mexico Bags Where is there, The company carries its daily production of hydrocarbons to 120,000 barrels equivalent to oil (“BOE/D”), and becomes the largest independent producer of oil in the country. In addition, it has invested more than US $ 6,000 million in Argentina since the beginning of its operations in 2018.
From this transaction, View will be associated with YPFowner of the remaining 50% and current block operator. The bitter girl is currently the second field with the greatest production of Shale Oil in Vaca Muerta, with approximately 80,000 BOE/D to the last quarter of 2024.
At the same time, the agreement sentences the departure of Petronas de Vaca Muerta, as he had raised in December after withdrawing from participating in the mega liquefied natural gas production project, in a consortium developed with YPF for the production of 10 million tons per year of LNG, which Shell finally joined.
Vista gives another jump in Vaca Muerta with Petronas’s asset
The Galuccio oil company reported that The purchase was agreed with an already completed payment of US $ 900 million in cash at the end of the operation and will pay other US $ 300 million in two equal payments in the 2029 and 2030 years.
Besides, Petronas received 7,297,507 view shares. In this way, the Malaya company will continue to present in the country through view as one of its shareholders, and bets to continue capturing the value of the profitable growth of Vaca Muerta.
The bitter girl began operations in 2014 from the strategic alliance of Petronas with YPF, still under the presidency of Gallucio of the company. That block has 46,594 acres in the Shale Oil window where there are 247 wells in productionand estimated proven reserves at the end of 2023 of 280 million barrels equivalent to oil.
View estimates that there is 400 wells in the inventory to be developedwhich will increase the productive potential of the company, and with this operation, consolidates a total area of 229,000 acres in Vaca Muerta.
In addition, Vista will access with Petronas’ assets New transport and dispatch capacity in demidstream facilities. In Oldelval pipelines, it will have a total of 36,140 BBL/D composed of Open Access capacity for 18,806 BBL/dy a transport capacity hired in duplication for 17,334 BBL/D
In the Northern Muerta Cow Pipeline, it will add transport capacity for 20,756 BBL/D, while in the Oiltanking terminal, in the Port Complex of Bahía Blanca, a total dispatch capacity with export destination of 27,080 bbl/d.
The Galuccio Company and a society born with YPF
This is the first acquisition made by the company in which It will not be an asset operatorwhich reflects confidence in Vaca Muerta as a world -quality shale play, and in YPF as an operator.
Galuccio, President and CEO of the company He indicated that “with this acquisition View wins a significant scale in Vaca Muerta, incorporating a premium block with growth in growth and low operating costs, allowing the long -term plan to accelerate and strengthen the free cash flow generation profile“It is that the operation not only increases our profitability, but also improves our portfolio of locations ready to drill in the central area of Vaca Muerta.”
“It is especially important that, in the current global macroeconomic context and oil priceswe are consolidating a high margin and low -equilibrium asset, with strong synergies with our current operation, which reflects our long -term constructive vision on the dynamics of supply and demand for oil. I am convinced that this is a unique opportunity to generate long -term value for our shareholders, “he concluded.
According to the Ministry of Energy, during 2024 Vista was the second largest oil producer in Vaca Muerta, and the third largest oil producer in Argentina, and since its disinversion process in mature fields located in Neuquén and Río Negro, it became since 2023 in Pure Pure Play of Muerta Vaca.
The key aspects of the operation
The acquisition released today has great added value for sight in terms of metrics referring to Ebitda, production, reserves and production values, which is summarized according to what is informed to the market:
Low cost assetshigh margins, high profitability and box generation, since the Lifting Cost, the adjusted Ebitda margin and the performance of the average capital of LACH, are in line with the operational and financial metrics of sight by the year 2024, while supporting the trajectory to the positive generation of Free Cash Flow.
Scale increasesince seen consolidated through Petronas a total production of oil and gas that represents approximately 47% of its production of the fourth quarter of 2024, leading to a pro form production for that period of 125,048 BOE/D.
Portfolio improvementwith an estimated inventory of 200 wells ready to pierce 50% department in the core of Vaca Muerta, and geographically located next to the sight development hub.
Operational synergiesbased on the geographical proximity of the bitter girl to the sight development hub, which could be translated into potential savings related to the shared use of surface facilities, the optimization of the location of the wells near the boundaries between Lach and the sight development hub, improvements in the design of new wells and the shared use of general services.
Incorporation of relevant evacuation capacitysince Petronas has approximately 57,000 BBL/D of transport capacity and 48,000 BBL/D of dispatch capacity with a crude oil export destination in several key Midstream projects.
