Argentina's YPF has created a new department for overseeing its natural gas business, as the state-run energy company puts more focus on increasing output of the product, the company said Wednesday.
The board of directors has approved the new department, which will be run by Marcos Browne, a 22-year veteran of the gas industry, according to a filing with the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange. Browne previously handled gas supply and processing at YPF.
The move comes after the company said earlier this month that it would seek to ramp up gas production to help close an around 25% national deficit in gas supplies. Argentina imports an average of 30 million cu m/d of gas supplies in response to a 16% decline in production to 120 million cu m/d, from a record 143 million cu m/d in 2004.
YPF's gas production rose 4.2% to 44.2 million cu m/d in 2015 from 42.4 million cu m/d in 2014, according to the company's latest financial statement. This was helped by an increase in tight gas production to an average of 6.8 million cu m/d in the fourth quarter of 2015, up from 5.2 million cu m/d in the year-earlier period.
The national government is poised to increase the wellhead price of gas to $5.00/MMBtu from less than $2.70-$3.00/MMBtu to help spur production, in line with incentives for unconventional gas that price output at $7.50/MMBtu, Neuquen Governor Omar Gutierrez said earlier this month.
