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Vaca Muerta
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.
The large oil discovery in the Vaca Muerta Formation was made in 2010 by the former Repsol-YPF. The total proven reserves are around 927 million barrels (147.4×106 m3), and as of 2014 YPF's production alone was nearly 45,000 barrels per day (7,200 m3/d). In February 2012, Repsol YPF SA raised its estimate of oil reserves to 22.5 billion barrels (3.58×109 m3). 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 (8.7×1012 m3) of natural gas, more than even the Neuquén Basin's hydrocarbon-rich Middle Jurassic Los Molles Formation holds. As of 2017, there were almost 500 fracking wells, one of the most fracked sites outside North America, and as of October 2024, there were over 1500 fracking wells.
In July 2013, protests were heavily repressed by the police. The huge water consumption of fracking as well as the sand mines interfere with agriculture. In 2018, the Mapuche sued Exxon, French company TotalEnergies and Pan American Energy for "dangerous waste" due to "deficient treatment" close to the town of Añelo as oily sludge residue from fracking was tipped in illegal waste dumps.
The formation is also known for its fossils, such as those of marine reptiles.
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. Waste from the oil exploitation since 2011 has been deposited close to the town of Añelo, which is about 1,200km west of Buenos Aires.
The Vaca Muerta Shale is a continuous tight oil and shale gas reservoir of Late Jurassic (Tithonian) and Early Cretaceous (Berriasian) age. The formation covers a total area of 30,000 square kilometres (12,000 sq mi). The shale is at a depth of about 9,500 feet (2,900 m), where it has been found productive of oil and gas. Although called a shale, and with a total organic carbon content varying from 1 percent to 5 percent, the Vaca Muerta is predominately marl and consists of mature black shales, marls and lime mudstones. Formed in a marine environment with little clay and brittle rock, the deposit is 30 to 1,200 metres (98 to 3,937 ft) (usually over 400 metres (1,300 ft)) thick, extending throughout the basin. At the time of deposition, the Vaca Muerta was situated on the eastern margin of the Pacific Ocean.
Although the name Vaca Muerta Formation was introduced to the geological literature in 1931 by American geologist Charles E. Weaver, the highly bituminous shales in the Salado River valley in southern Mendoza were described in 1892 by Dr. Guillermo Bodenbender. German paleontologists Beherendsen and Steuer determined the Tithonian age of these shales. In several outcrop locations, the Vaca Muerta Formation has been the site of paleontological finds: the crocodylomorph Cricosaurus and possibly Geosaurus, the ichthyosaur Caypullisaurus, and the pterosaurs Herbstosaurus and Wenupteryx.
The Vaca Muerta Formation represents the most distal facies of the Lower Mendoza Mesosequence, a Tithonian–Valanginian broad shallowing-upward sedimentary cycle. In the southern part of the Neuquén Basin the Lower Mendoza Mesosequence includes the basinal deposits of the Vaca Muerta Formation (early to middle Tithonian), which to the south-southeast change to mixed carbonate-siliciclastic nearshore deposits of the Carrin Cura Formation (lower part of the middle Tithonian) and Picún Leufú Formation (middle Tithonian – lower Berriasian), and to continental deposits of the Bajada Colorada Formation of Tithonian – Berriasian age. In the central part of the Neuquén Basin, also known as Neuquén embayment, the Lower Mendoza Mesosequence consists of basinal deposits of the Vaca Muerta Formation (early to upper Tithonian), which to the east change to shoreface deposits of the Quintuco Formation (upper Tithonian – lower Valanginian), and to sabkha deposits of the Loma Montosa Formation (lower Valanginian), forming a mixed carbonate-siliciclastic depositional system. Westward the Vaca Muerta Formation includes slope facies (Huncal Member), and in the Chilean territory pass into shallow marine/volcanic deposits. By contrast, in the southern Mendoza area the Lower Mendoza Mesosequence consists of aggradational and divergent sequences, with a maximum thickness of 500 metres (1,600 ft) towards the center of the basin. It includes basinal to middle carbonate ramp deposits of the Vaca Muerta Formation (early Tithonian – early Valanginian) and middle to inner ramp oyster-deposits of the Chachao Formation (early Valanginian), which form an homoclinal carbonate ramp system. Westward, undated tidal to continental mixed deposits have been recognized and correlated with the Vaca Muerta and Chachao Formations, receiving the name of Lindero de Piedra Formation.
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Vaca Muerta
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.
The large oil discovery in the Vaca Muerta Formation was made in 2010 by the former Repsol-YPF. The total proven reserves are around 927 million barrels (147.4×106 m3), and as of 2014 YPF's production alone was nearly 45,000 barrels per day (7,200 m3/d). In February 2012, Repsol YPF SA raised its estimate of oil reserves to 22.5 billion barrels (3.58×109 m3). 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 (8.7×1012 m3) of natural gas, more than even the Neuquén Basin's hydrocarbon-rich Middle Jurassic Los Molles Formation holds. As of 2017, there were almost 500 fracking wells, one of the most fracked sites outside North America, and as of October 2024, there were over 1500 fracking wells.
In July 2013, protests were heavily repressed by the police. The huge water consumption of fracking as well as the sand mines interfere with agriculture. In 2018, the Mapuche sued Exxon, French company TotalEnergies and Pan American Energy for "dangerous waste" due to "deficient treatment" close to the town of Añelo as oily sludge residue from fracking was tipped in illegal waste dumps.
The formation is also known for its fossils, such as those of marine reptiles.
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. Waste from the oil exploitation since 2011 has been deposited close to the town of Añelo, which is about 1,200km west of Buenos Aires.
The Vaca Muerta Shale is a continuous tight oil and shale gas reservoir of Late Jurassic (Tithonian) and Early Cretaceous (Berriasian) age. The formation covers a total area of 30,000 square kilometres (12,000 sq mi). The shale is at a depth of about 9,500 feet (2,900 m), where it has been found productive of oil and gas. Although called a shale, and with a total organic carbon content varying from 1 percent to 5 percent, the Vaca Muerta is predominately marl and consists of mature black shales, marls and lime mudstones. Formed in a marine environment with little clay and brittle rock, the deposit is 30 to 1,200 metres (98 to 3,937 ft) (usually over 400 metres (1,300 ft)) thick, extending throughout the basin. At the time of deposition, the Vaca Muerta was situated on the eastern margin of the Pacific Ocean.
Although the name Vaca Muerta Formation was introduced to the geological literature in 1931 by American geologist Charles E. Weaver, the highly bituminous shales in the Salado River valley in southern Mendoza were described in 1892 by Dr. Guillermo Bodenbender. German paleontologists Beherendsen and Steuer determined the Tithonian age of these shales. In several outcrop locations, the Vaca Muerta Formation has been the site of paleontological finds: the crocodylomorph Cricosaurus and possibly Geosaurus, the ichthyosaur Caypullisaurus, and the pterosaurs Herbstosaurus and Wenupteryx.
The Vaca Muerta Formation represents the most distal facies of the Lower Mendoza Mesosequence, a Tithonian–Valanginian broad shallowing-upward sedimentary cycle. In the southern part of the Neuquén Basin the Lower Mendoza Mesosequence includes the basinal deposits of the Vaca Muerta Formation (early to middle Tithonian), which to the south-southeast change to mixed carbonate-siliciclastic nearshore deposits of the Carrin Cura Formation (lower part of the middle Tithonian) and Picún Leufú Formation (middle Tithonian – lower Berriasian), and to continental deposits of the Bajada Colorada Formation of Tithonian – Berriasian age. In the central part of the Neuquén Basin, also known as Neuquén embayment, the Lower Mendoza Mesosequence consists of basinal deposits of the Vaca Muerta Formation (early to upper Tithonian), which to the east change to shoreface deposits of the Quintuco Formation (upper Tithonian – lower Valanginian), and to sabkha deposits of the Loma Montosa Formation (lower Valanginian), forming a mixed carbonate-siliciclastic depositional system. Westward the Vaca Muerta Formation includes slope facies (Huncal Member), and in the Chilean territory pass into shallow marine/volcanic deposits. By contrast, in the southern Mendoza area the Lower Mendoza Mesosequence consists of aggradational and divergent sequences, with a maximum thickness of 500 metres (1,600 ft) towards the center of the basin. It includes basinal to middle carbonate ramp deposits of the Vaca Muerta Formation (early Tithonian – early Valanginian) and middle to inner ramp oyster-deposits of the Chachao Formation (early Valanginian), which form an homoclinal carbonate ramp system. Westward, undated tidal to continental mixed deposits have been recognized and correlated with the Vaca Muerta and Chachao Formations, receiving the name of Lindero de Piedra Formation.
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