The company is launching its very first unconventional oil development project in the Neuquén Basin in December. Hear from Carlos Mamani, Operations & Engineering Senior Director, Franchesca Renzullo, Plant Manager, and Laura Poblet, Facilities Lead Engineer, as they comment on the challenges involved.

"The decision to develop new unconventional assets, a commitment to exploring oil in the frontier regions of the Neuquén Basin, and a proven ability to execute projects within challenging timeframes which leads to growth among local companies." It’s the sum of these factors that Carlos Mamani, Operations & Engineering Senior Director, believes is driving progress at Puesto Parada, Tecpetrol’s first-ever shale oil field which is currently at development stage in Vaca Muerta.

Lying north of the Los Bastos area, the project involves expanding an existing facility’s output to over 6,000 barrels of oil per day as well as building two pads with four wells each, as a first stage. But what’s going on behind those numbers? What are the challenges and learnings facing those in charge of tasks designed to multiply production in that area tenfold?

Many hands at work

“Challenging!” That’s how Franchesca Renzullo and Laura Poblet define their work at the site. In fact, it’s a word that speaks volumes, as they know that their work tests them in every way possible: their capacity to supervise the facilities, lead and coordinate their teams, and take swift decisions to counter any unforeseen event.

In fact, only a few weeks ago, a situation arose that required them to respond swiftly. In one of the areas where the facility’s new tank was going to be placed, the team had to take out some buried pipes. However, that particular line was connected to the gas pipeline transporting the largest amount of gas through the Los Bastos area. To move ahead with the works, no matter what, they had to stop operations at the plant.

“Our premise is always to keep operations going and ensure that any downtime for interventions is as short as possible. In this case, we had to stop everything and execute the task in the most efficient way,” explains Franchesca Renzullo. “This involved an analysis of how we were going to block in and depressurize the pipeline, making the gas inert; then establish how this was going to affect other activities, and obviously, get all the permits required from Safety which are mandatory for each task. Although the task involved different sectors, we all had the same objective: to carry out the facility’s expansion on time for December.”

Laura Poblet builds on the theme of team spirit as one of the main values driving this work. “Overall, what we’re doing is to take the plant’s output capacity from 300 to 1,000 cubic meters of oil per day, by building the new pads and laying 10 kilometers of pipeline to link this production to an already existing network. That’s why we need so much coordination and so many people to accompany us. At the moment, there are some 100 people working on the project,” she details.

Vocation for progress

If there’s anything that the people leading the project at Puesto Parada agree on, it’s that the challenges extend far beyond the completion of the works. The new facilities, control systems and particular features of shale oil production also raise the challenge of how best to continue training people.

“Carrying out unconventional development at a field that has always been conventional requires an enormous effort and will to succeed,” comments Franchesca Renzullo. There are people who have been working at this site for over fifteen years and who are very much part of the changes. “This new development is an expansion of what we’re doing in Vaca Muerta and strengthens our commitment to energy production.”