At an informative event held by IAPG (Instituto Argentino del Petroleo y del Gas) in Houston, Texas, USA, on 26 June 2019, representatives from the Santa Cruz Provinceâs Institute of Energy announced the provinceâs plan to hold a bid round for four blocks in onshore Austral Basin covering over 2,350 sq km of area in the second half of 2019. Main objectives in the blocks were said to be unconventional oil and gas opportunities from the producing tight sands of Lower Magallanes Formation, as well as the prospective shale of Palermo Aike Formation with reported potential of 1 Bbo and 85 Tscfg. Each block requires a different amount of minimum investment for the first exploration period, with the mandatory drilling of one exploratory well is expected in the second period. More information about the round is expected to be released in the next few months.            Block   Name         Block   Sqkm         Minimum   Commitments (1st exploration period)             Camusu   Aike         245.8         USD   8.87 million             El   Campamento         1,108.72         USD   26.03 million             El   Martillo         609.36         USD   18.965 million             La   Azucena         386.67         USD   13.945 million        Â     No discoveries have been made in any of the bid block areas. Camusu Aike block has never been drilled, meanwhile the El Martillo block has not been drilled since 2005, and same for the La Azucena and El Campamento areas since the late 1990âs. However, all said blocks are situated next to the unconventional exploitation concessions of El Cerrito and Campo Indio Este operated by Cia General de Combustibles (CGC) where El Puma 3 tight gas discovery was made from the Lower Magallanes Formation in August 2018.    More information regarding the bid round can be obtained by contacting the Institute of Energy of Santa Cruz Province at info@iesc.gov.ar or by phone: +54 (02966) 436653 / 437467 / 437455.    Background Information    The Province of Santa Cruz issued a call for tenders for the Tapi Aike, Paso Fuhr, El Turbio, and El Turbio Este in its last Licitacion Publica Nacional e Internacional round in June 2017 after all areas were relinquished to the province in 2015 due to lack of investments. In September 2017, Tapi Aike was awarded to CGC, while El Turbio was awarded to state company YPF, and El Turbio Este was awarded to to Chilean state company ENAP. Meanwhile Paso Fuhr was awarded to a joint venture of YPF and CGC in March 2019 following a separate application that was submitted in late-2018.
At an informative event held by IAPG (Instituto Argentino del Petroleo y del Gas) in Houston, Texas, USA, on 26 June 2019, representatives from the Santa Cruz Provinceâs Institute of Energy announced the provinceâs plan to hold a bid round for four blocks in onshore Austral Basin covering over 2,350 sq km of area in the second half of 2019.