Petroleum in the Argentine Republic

At the present time five localities in the Argentine Republic are known tobear direct evidences of the presence of petroleum. The segregation of theselocalities is more or less arbitrary inasmuch as minor indications may be foundto extend from one locality to the other at no regular distance apart, especially in the northern and western part of the republic. These localitiesare listed as follows: North Argentine-Bolivian region, Salta-Jujuy district, provinces of Mendoza and Neuquen, Comodoro Rivadavia, and the Gallegos-PuntaArenas region. Economic conditions attract us to the possibilities of developing these andother regions of countries in the southern hemisphere. Development work will, naturally, be undertaken first in such localities as present directmanifestations of the presence of petroleum; "hidden fields" may exist, but, unless discovered by accident, their development will be left to thelast. The problems to be solved in the development of the petroleum resources of theArgentine republic are mainly of stratigraphy, structure, and transportation.We are not here concerned with the unfavorable climate of the countries to thenorth in the tropics where, for us of the "far north," life hangs by athread ready to be severed by a mosquito, gnat, or tropical germ. North Argentine-Bolivian Region The North Argentine-Bolivian region has already been described by the author.Geographically and geologically this is admittedly one field extending fromArgentine into Bolivia. It is not necessary to repeat here the variousconditions pertaining to this field, though the summary may be quoted asfollows: Extending from northern Argentine northward into central Bolivia is a belt ofpetroleum seepages. On account of the remoteness of the district it has, heretofore, been little considered by oil operators. The regional geology iscomparatively well understood but the local features have not been carefullydetailed. Development work in the past has been done on an unscientific basis and has ledto failures. AIME 065–08