Oct 29, 2026 · 37 min · 10 segments
Vaca Muerta has the rock. The question is how fast everything above ground catches up. Patrick Rutty sits down with Andy McConn, Dani von Bassenheim and Vishnu Gopakumar of Enverus Intelligence®…
Andy McConnGuest
Patrick RuttyHostDani von BassenheimGuest
When listeners or anybody first encounters a number like 100 barrels a foot or two BZF per thousand, yeah, you sort of get dollar signs or all straddles in your eyes.
Danny, can you take us two things for you? One unexpected, one actually on script.
And or the way that you described The Rock before made it sound like it was good, like a normal, unconventional play.
There's a lot of, um, several, several targets that are, that are separated.
And to the, the, the flip side of that coin, that the break evens don't screen as economic because of, of some of the costs, both it being an early life play, but also there's some, some structural pieces in there.
I think the one thing to call out on the gas before I shift over to the costs is things like the processing capacity on the NGLs.
Once you shift into some of those gasser areas has been limited in terms of the capacity historically.
And so as those things get built out, operators really have focused on the oilier acreage.
And getting some of that infrastructure in place, facilities and different things is really going to open up a lot of acreage and possibility in the future for the Waka Marta.
But shifting over to those costs, you know, mentioned that they do sit notably higher in the Vaca Marta when compared to the lower 48.
Part of that is a structural component with those labor unions, material costs, distance from sources on things like the frac sands, etc.
and, you know, try and unlock if we're able to use or they're able to use a closer source for that.
And also just a necessary incentive for service companies to want to move rigs, build up crews in the area and operate is all part of that equation.
But we do think that there are efficiency gains that we think could happen to what Vishnu was kind of talking about.
We are optimistic on the ability to bring down those costs and improve the economics.
In our view and kind of where it sits today, costs in the core of the play sit at or a bit below $1,300 per foot.
That's some of the most economic in the play compared to something like the Permian where costs can sit in that, let's call it $800 to $1,000 per foot, in some cases a little lower.
When listeners or anybody first encounters a number like 100 barrels a foot or two BZF per thousand, yeah, you sort of get dollar signs or all straddles in your eyes.
Danny, can you take us two things for you? One unexpected, one actually on script.
And or the way that you described The Rock before made it sound like it was good, like a normal, unconventional play.
There's a lot of, um, several, several targets that are, that are separated.
And to the, the, the flip side of that coin, that the break evens don't screen as economic because of, of some of the costs, both it being an early life play, but also there's some, some structural pieces in there.
I think the one thing to call out on the gas before I shift over to the costs is things like the processing capacity on the NGLs.
Once you shift into some of those gasser areas has been limited in terms of the capacity historically.
And so as those things get built out, operators really have focused on the oilier acreage.
And getting some of that infrastructure in place, facilities and different things is really going to open up a lot of acreage and possibility in the future for the Waka Marta.
But shifting over to those costs, you know, mentioned that they do sit notably higher in the Vaca Marta when compared to the lower 48.
Part of that is a structural component with those labor unions, material costs, distance from sources on things like the frac sands, etc.
and, you know, try and unlock if we're able to use or they're able to use a closer source for that.
And also just a necessary incentive for service companies to want to move rigs, build up crews in the area and operate is all part of that equation.
But we do think that there are efficiency gains that we think could happen to what Vishnu was kind of talking about.
We are optimistic on the ability to bring down those costs and improve the economics.
In our view and kind of where it sits today, costs in the core of the play sit at or a bit below $1,300 per foot.
That's some of the most economic in the play compared to something like the Permian where costs can sit in that, let's call it $800 to $1,000 per foot, in some cases a little lower.
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