Paolo Rocca and the governor of Neuquen, Omar Gutiérrez, toured the new Techint offices near Vaca Muerta

Techint Group president Paolo Rocca was joined by the governor of the province of Neuquen, Omar Gutiérrez, on a tour of the brand new office premises which have recently been inaugurated on the outskirts of the city of Neuquen. The new facilities will house teams of engineers and experts from Tecpetrol, Techint Engineering & Construction and Tenaris working at operations in this part of the world. During the visit, Rocca and Gutiérrez took time to discuss the key role played by Vaca Muerta in the current context, before being joined by Tecpetrol CEO Ricardo Markous, the director general of E&P, Horacio Marín, and the director for the Neuquen basin and Vaca Muerta, Martín Bengochea, for a VIP tour of the premises. They stopped off at the control room, fully equipped with the latest technology, to see how Tecpetrol technicians monitor a wide range of operations using sophisticated software to constantly measure variables in real-time.

Paolo Rocca stressed the importance of Vaca Muerta and its natural gas deposits for Argentina. "In this context of major challenges and transformations at world level, we have a dual responsibility, as a key industry and as a country blessed with resources, to develop our energy potential, always seeking to the highest possible standards of quality. We must be able to meet the growing need for energy, particularly in Latin America," he explained. He went on to say that in order to fulfill Argentina's energy potential, the first step must be to expand the gas transport and distribution system.

Gutiérrez affirmed that "today, one-third of the oil and gas produced in the country is sourced exclusively from Vaca Muerta," recalling that "at the end of 2015, unconventional oil resources represented barely 4.6 of the country's total output, and gas just 3%. Today these percentages have risen to 36% and 31%, respectively."