According to official reports in late-August 2019, Equinor has signed a preliminary agreement to acquire 50% interest in YPFâs CAN-100 (formerly E-1 or ENARSA 1) offshore block. The concession was most recently awarded to the state company with 100% equity in mid-May 2019 with the commitment of seismic studies within the first exploration period of four years.  CAN-100 block covers 14,770 sq km of deepwater acreage with over 4,000 m of depth in Argentina Basin, and situated adjacent to Equinorâs 100%-held block CAN-108 that the company won in Round 1 of Argentinaâs offshore licensing round that ended in April 2019. The area of CAN-100 is relatively unexplored with no discoveries or significant wells other than two wells that were drilled and P&Aâd with oil & gas shows by Union Texas in the nearby CAN-109 block in the mid-1990âs.  The CAN-100 concession will be the third 50:50 joint offshore project in Argentina Basin between YPF and Equinor in addition to two blocks that were also assigned as result of Round 1, namely CAN-102 (operated by the former) and CAN-114 (operated by latter). Outside of Argentina Basin, CAN-100 will also mark both companiesâ fourth partnership overall in offshore exploration in the country which also include the Total-operated MLO-123 block in Malvinas Basin that was granted following the end of Round 1 as well. Meanwhile in onshore, YPF and Equinor are once again 50:50 partners in Bajo del Toro (YPF-operated) block in Neuquen Basin targeting oil from Vaca Muerta Formation shale.  Background Information  YPF first became the operator of CAN-100 block (known as ENARSA 1 then) in 2006, originally joined by partners Pampa Energia (formerly Petrobras Argentina), Petrouruguay, and state energy company IEASA (formerly ENARSA) which managed majority of offshore acreage in Argentina at the time. After ENARSA returned all its offshore blocks to the state in 2015, YPF began the negotiation process with the Secretary of Energy (Ministry of Energy then) for a new exploration permit in late-2017 before it was finally received in April 2019.
Equinor had entered into an agreement with YPF (->50%) to acquire 50 non-op. WI in E-1 (CAN 100) offshore block. 