The race for oil and gas in Argentina is on
SMEs are on the hunt for contracts at the Vaca Muerta mega-site.
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“If just a quarter of the negotiations that have been initiated were to come to fruition, the figures would already be truly significant.” Roberto Bonanzinga returns from his business trip to Argentina feeling optimistic. The Lombardy-based entrepreneur, who manufactures wiring harnesses through his company Ramco, is among those selected by Promos Italia to try to tap into the business opportunities emerging from Buenos Aires, particularly in connection with the development of the Vaca Muerta site, a geological formation containing some of the world’s largest reserves of unconventional gas and oil.
Exploiting this opportunity requires plant, infrastructure and components – a sector in which Italian companies are well placed to capitalise, given our proven capabilities in the oil and gas sector, as demonstrated by the recent surge in exports, for example in the field of valves.
The mission, organised by Promos Italia, the national agency of the Italian Chamber of Commerce system, took place from 19 to 21 October and centred on a series of B2B meetings with representatives and companies operating in the Vaca Muerta and Río Negro clusters.
“We have put a lot of groundwork in,” explains Luca Modenesi, Area Manager for Argentina at Industria Meccanica Bassi, “and it is clear that this is an extremely interesting market, brimming with opportunities.” For the company – which has 1,200 employees and a turnover of 400 million – the aim is to establish contacts in the field of Oil & Gas fittings, a sector in which the company already operates worldwide. “The mission was very well organised,” explains the manager, “and enabled us to meet some interesting contacts. The next step is now to establish ourselves, particularly with Argentine contractors: the potential is there, and I think there’s a good chance of realising it.”
“Our aim,” explains Fabrizio Vitali, sales manager at Forain, “is to find a local partner so that we can design our gas treatment plants here in Italia and then build them in Argentina. Contacts? We’ve made a great many; now it’s a matter of continuing the work, not least because the market there is very active and developments are happening rapidly.”
