BUENOS AIRES – Argentine energy firm Compaa General de Combustibles (CGC) announced on Wednesday that it has bought Sinopec Group’s local unit, allowing it to raise production to nearly 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. CGC, a subsidiary of Corporacion America International, announced the purchase of Sinopec Argentina without specifying the price. With holdings encompassing 4,600 square kilometers in Argentina’s San Jorge and Cuyo Basins, the Chinese-owned company runs over 20 oilfields.
Termap, the operator of the Caleta Olivia (Santa Cruz province) and Caleta Córdova (Chubut) port terminals, is also owned by Sinopec Argentina.
CGC CEO Hugo Eurnekian said in a statement, “We are convinced of the tremendous and diverse potential that our country’s geology provides, not only in shale but notably in tight and conventional locations.”
“This is evidenced by the fact that we are taking this move.”
According to one market source, Sinopec’s Argentina assets are worth over $250 million. Sinopec’s parent company paid $2.45 billion in 2009 for Occidental Petroleum’s oil and gas holdings in Argentina.
CGC stated it had invested approximately US$1.5 billion in Argentina’s energy development since being acquired by Corporación América in 2013.
Sociedad Comercial del Plata, an Argentine financial conglomerate, owns a significant minority investment in CGC./n
