（彭博社）“能源副部长弗拉维亚·罗永 (Flavia Royon) 在接受采访时表示，瓦卡穆尔塔 (Vaca Muerta) 页岩区石油生产的蓬勃发展将在几年内为阿根廷的能源贸易带来高达 80 亿美元的顺差。

在经历了过去十年的一系列虚假曙光之后，瓦卡穆尔塔的钻探活动正在迅速复苏，顶级开发商、国营 YPF SA 准备加大投资。

作为生产主要瓶颈的管道扩建工程终于开工建设。罗永表示，一条废弃多年的通往智利的管道将于五月开始运送原油。YPF 还牵头计划修建一条通往大西洋海岸的新跨国管道，并在那里修建一个新港口。这还不包括目前将现有类似设施翻倍的工作。

阿根廷的美元长期短缺是其容易发生危机的经济失衡的一个关键根源，多年来导致了包括资本管制和债务重组在内的非正统政策。贸易顺差是改善这一状况的关键。

罗永在多伦多举行的一次会议上表示：“三四年后，在原油出口的推动下，我们将实现 80 亿美元的正能源贸易平衡。”

政府预计，能源贸易在经历了长期亏损之后，今年将实现平衡，其中包括 2022 年出现 50 亿美元的赤字，因为燃料进口阻碍了这个曾经轻松成为净出口国的国家。

 

(Bloomberg) – Booming oil production out of shale patch Vaca Muerta will create surpluses in energy trade for Argentina to the tune of $8 billion within a few years, Energy Undersecretary Flavia Royon said in an interview.

Drilling is picking up fast in Vaca Muerta after a series of false dawns over the past decade with top developer, state-run YPF SA, poised to ramp up investments.

Pipeline expansions, a major bottleneck to production, are finally under construction. A duct to Chile that’s been abandoned for years will start to ship crude in May, Royon said. YPF is also leading plans for a new cross-country conduit to the Atlantic coast, where a new port would also be built. That’s in addition to current work to double similar existing facilities.

Argentina’s chronic shortage of U.S. dollars is a key source of imbalances in its crisis-prone economy, and over the years has led to unorthodox policies including capital controls and debt restructurings. Trade surpluses are key to improving the situation.

“In three or four years we’ll have a positive energy trade balance of $8 billion driven by crude exports,” Royon said at a conference in Toronto.

The government is expecting energy trade to be balanced this year after a long time in the red — including a $5 billion deficit in 2022 — as fuel imports hampered a nation that was once comfortably a net exporter.