Argentina’s state-controlled energy company YPF and Malaysia’s Petronas will form a joint venture to invest 2.3 billion USD over the next four years in the Latin American country’s Vaca Muerta shale oil fields.
Illustrative image (Source: ypf.com)
State-owned Petronas
will have an equal stake in the project through its subsidiary Petronas E&P
Argentina SA, Reuters reported on December 5.
Located in western Argentina, Vaca Muerta is regarded as having the world’s
second-largest shale gas and fourth-largest shale oil deposits.
The companies’ objective is to reach a production equivalent of 60,000 barrels
a day by 2022. Total investment could reach 7 billion USD within 20 years.
Petronas and YPF have already partnered in pilot exploration and production
initiatives and will begin development of the unconventional fuel project in
the Amarga Chica block in the province of Neuquen.
The announcement is good news for the beleaguered Argentinean government of
President Mauricio Macri, which was forced to seek a bailout from the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) earlier this year.
Source: VNA
The Foreign Ministers’ Meeting of the world’s leading developed and emerging economies (G20) recently held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil emphasised the need to reform global governance institutions, especially the United Nations Security Council. The meeting is also an opportunity for G20 to find solutions to a series of hot issues facing the world, such as poverty, climate change, and conflict.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers on December 30 issued a statement on maintaining and promoting stability in the maritime sphere in Southeast Asia.
The world economy has overcome a challenging year, but has proven more resilient than expected. The Financial Times (UK) commented that 2023 was a positive year for the world economy as the economic surprise index collated by Citigroup shew that actual data have underwhelmed economists’ predictions for much of the past months. These economic trends are the basis for optimism about the world economy in 2024.
Laos has announced the theme and logo for its the Chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2024.
Vietnam was elected a Vice President of the 42nd session of the UNESCO’s General Conference, representing the Asia-Pacific, on November 8.
Since the "blockbuster" ChatGPT was launched a year ago, the prospects for the development of artificial intelligence (AI), as well as concerns about the risks from this technology, have become hot topics in the technology world.
