According to official reports in mid-April 2019, the Argentine government has granted an offshore exploration permit for the E-1 block (formerly ENARSA 1) to state company YPF via Resolution 196/2019 issued by the Secretary of Energy. YPF will operate the block with 100% interest, following a period of negotiation that began in December 2017 when the company notified the Secretary of Energy (Ministry of Energy then) of its intention to negotiate the conversion of association agreement related to the E-1 block as well as its decision not to convert the association agreements for E-2 and E-3. The contract reportedly will include two phases of exploration with the possibility of a five-year extension and the rights to convert into an exploitation concession. Work commitments consist of 1,500 sq km of 3D seismic and 2,168 km of 2D seismic in the first phase, and the drilling of a well below 1,500 m in the second phase.  The latest version of E-1 block covers 14,770 sq km of deepwater acreage with over 4,000 m of depth in Argentina Basin, after 20,294 sq km of the original 35,064 sq km block was relinquished during the negotiation process in late-2017/early-2018. The relinquished area had since been divided into several blocks and offered in Round 1 of the countryâs offshore bid round that was launched in November 2018 as CAN-105, CAN-106, CAN-107, CAN-108, CAN-109, and CAN-110. In mid-April 2019, CAN-107 and CAN-109 were in the process of being awarded to a consortium of Shell and Qatar Petroleum, while CAN-108 was in the same process for Equinor following the end of the round on 16 April 2019.  YPF has been the operator of the E-1 block since 2006, although originally joined by partners Pampa Energia (formerly Petrobras Argentina), Petrouruguay, and state energy company IEASA (formerly ENARSA) which previously held the licenses over majority of offshore acreage in the country.  Background Information    ENARSA relinquished its 313,517 sq km of offshore blocks held in 2015, following over a decade of low activity.
The Argentine government has granted an offshore exploration permit for the E-1 block (formerly ENARSA 1) to state company YPF via Resolution 196/2019 issued by the Secretary of Energy. YPF will operate the block with 100% interest