Vaca Muerta
Geologic formation in Argentina / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Vaca Muerta Formation, commonly known as Vaca Muerta (Spanish for Dead Cow), is a geologic formation of Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous age, located in the Neuquén Basin in northern Patagonia, Argentina. It is well known as the host rock for major deposits of shale oil and shale gas.
Vaca Muerta Formation | |
---|---|
Stratigraphic range: Tithonian-Berriasian ~148–140 Ma | |
Type | Geological formation |
Unit of | Mendoza Group |
Underlies | Mulichinco Fm., Quintuco Fm., Picún Leufú Fm. |
Overlies | Tordillo Formation |
Thickness | 30–1,200 m (98–3,937 ft) |
Lithology | |
Primary | Marl |
Other | Organic shale, lime-mudstone |
Location | |
Coordinates | 38°12′0″S 69°30′0″W |
Region | Neuquén Province |
Country | Argentina |
Extent | >30,000 km2 (12,000 sq mi) |
Type section | |
Named by | Charles E. Weaver |
Location | Salado River valley |
Year defined | 1931 |
Country | Argentina |
Hydrocarbon source rock maturity (Ro %) of the Vaca Muerta. Huincul basement high is shown in grey. |
The large oil discovery in the Vaca Muerta Formation was made in 2010 by the former Repsol-YPF.[1] The total proven reserves are around 927 million barrels (147.4×10^6 m3), [2] and as of 2014 YPF's production alone was nearly 45,000 barrels per day (7,200 m3/d).[3][4] In February 2012, Repsol YPF SA raised its estimate of oil reserves to 22.5 billion barrels (3.58×109 m3).[5][6] The US EIA estimates total recoverable hydrocarbons from this Vaca Muerta Formation to be 16.2 billion barrels (2.58×109 m3) of oil and 308 trillion cubic feet (8.7×10^12 m3) of natural gas, more than even the Neuquén Basin's hydrocarbon-rich Middle Jurassic Los Molles Formation holds.[7]
As of 2017, there were almost 500 fracking wells, one of the most fracked sites outside North America.[8]