Tecpetrol has hit the 1 TCF mark for accumulated gas production in the Fortín de Piedra field, the heart of Vaca Muerta. A major achievement pulled off by the entire team working seamlessly together towards shared objectives.

Anything but a surprise, this landmark achievement is the result yielded by many years of steady work at the largest project in the history of Tecpetrol. It was back in 2017 when the first contingent of employees disembarked in the place where Fortín de Piedra would be located: “We arrived in the middle of empty plains, like the rest of the Neuquén plateau. We had to start from scratch.” Martin Bengochea, Vice President of the Neuquén Basin & Vaca Muerta, smiles as he remembers what it was like to be there at that moment. Since then, it’s gone from 0 to 1 TCF in less than seven years: a truly epic achievement according to Jorge Herrera, Regional Operations Director Neuquén Basin & Vaca Muerta. “I’ve worked on many significant projects during my career, pillars for the growth of Tecpetrol, but Fortín de Piedra is head and shoulders above the rest in terms of the sheer speed and size of its development.”

1 TCF. One trillion cubic feet of gas. The amount needed to power all homes in Argentina for three years: something so crucial for our country that pointing out its importance would be stating the obvious.

1 TCF. A number every bit as impressive as the team that achieved it. The industrial gene of the Techint Group made it possible to build the entire Central Processing Facility (CPF) at Fortín de Piedra in a record-breaking eighteen months, employing 4,500 people at the peak of work and involving over 1,000 SMEs, many of them supported and developed by the Techint Group’s very own ProPymes Program. “The key thing was how everybody focused on getting the job done right from the word go, the extraordinary standards of professionalism and the work synergy of the group. Our industrial DNA and the contribution made by both Techint Engineering & Construction and Tenaris were crucial in achieving this,” explains Martín.

1 TCF. Fortín de Piedra is today one of the handful of fields that have reached this level of accumulated production in the country—and the one that got there the fastest. The process involved putting some 300 kilometers of horizontal branches into production and drilling a large number of wells from several pads, tasks that were all characterized by a strong emphasis on safety, a value intrinsic to our industrial concept of continuous improvement.

As Daniel Valencio, Exploration & Development Vice President, explains what this means to him, pride in the achievement shines in his eyes: “For the Vice Presidency of Exploration and Development, Fortín de Piedra embodies our conviction that as a team, we can dream, plan and execute a world-class project. It’s all about having ideas, setting objectives, assembling teams, detailed planning, communicating and executing, everybody together and pulling in the same direction. That’s the secret of this success.” Jorge adds that, "Today, Fortín is a training school for our professionals, as many of those who started their careers as juniors at the site now have great responsibilities and are clearly the protagonists."

This challenge has spawned countless new challenges, dreams and projects: in fact, more than a finish line, this milestone marks a new starting point. Martin adds that, “Fortín de Piedra faces a promising future and is poised to maintain a significant role in the advancement of the gas sector in Argentina. In fact, under favorable conditions, Fortín de Piedra could lead the way in exploring export opportunities to other markets.” His enthusiasm and joy with the achievement is evident: “The main feeling we have after creating this great transformation and contributing to energy in this country is one of enormous pride in being part of this team, which still has so much to grow and contribute.”