In February 2018 the CFO of Eduardo Eurnekian's Compania General de Combustibles (CGC), Nestor Raffaeli reported that the Santa Cruz Energy Institute (IESC) awarded to the company a 35 year unconventional production concession for the Campo Indio Este-El Cerrito block. The award was effective through the 0108/2018 provincial decree. It also subdivided the area in Campo Indio Este - Fraccion I and El Cerrito- Fraccion II. CGC recently announced a US$ 200 million investment in a tight gas project for its concessions in the province. An additional drilling rig is planned for use in the first quarter of 2018 for a 34 well drilling program. A 3D seismic shoot and 10 additional exploratory wells are also planned for the basin. in late May 2017 the company claimed to make the first tight gas discovery in the Austral Basin with the Campo Indio 53(h) horizontal well on the Campo Indio license. An initial production of 5.64 MMcfg/d with flow rates up to 8.47 MMcfg/d was tested from the late Cretaceous Magallanes Formation. In late July 2017 CGC also tested another tight gas well with the Campo Indio 51(h) horizontal well on the Campo Indio license. 8.82 MMcfg/d and 63 bo/d were tested after a 10 stage frack. In August the Campo Indio a-1004 appraisal tested 13.77 MMcf/g and 112.6 bo/d from the same formation. The company also tested small amounts of gas with low pressure by late July 2017 on the El Cerrito x-1 new field wildcat on the Estancia Chiripa exploration permit. This area is presumably included in the new El Cerrito- Fraccion II. The target is similar to the previously drilled Estancia Chiripa Sudoeste x-1 on the southwestern portion of the block. In January 2018 CGC was approved for participation in the unconventional gas pricing promotion plan, now extended to development projects, for the Campo Indio license. This is the first field in this basin to be approved for the plan. The incentive consists of a minimum fixed price decreasing from US$ 7.50 per MMbtu for 2018, US$ 7 in 2019, US$ 6.50 in 2020 and US$ 6 in 2021.
CGC was awarded Campo Indio Este-El Cerrito block.