A new actor joins Vaca Muerta. It is not an international company, but rather the main electricity generator in the country, Central Puerto, which announced today its formal entry into the hydrocarbon business.
The company controlled by Guillermo Reca, the Miguens-Bemberg family and the banker Eduardo Escasany —which between the three of them concentrate around 25% of the share capital, in a company that has more than 50,000 shareholders—bought 100% of Patagonia Energy (PESA)which since 2021 had as its main shareholder Federico Tomasevich. The operation, reported to the National Securities Commission (CNV), makes Central Puerto a new actor within the Neuquén basin.
Through an agreement with Patagonia Assets Limited, Central Puerto also acquired control of Patagonia Energy & Resources (PERL), a company incorporated in Great Britain and parent company of PESA. The firm is the holder of the exploitation concession of the areas Aguada del Chivato and Aguada Bocareywith a total area of approximately 27,181 acres (about 110 square kilometers). The blocks are currently located within the conventional deposit zone, but the company aims to convert them towards unconventional exploitationin line with the dominant trend in the region.
The move in Vaca Muerta occurs in a context of growing interest in the assets of the Neuquén basin. The incorporation of Central Puerto to the map of operators adds a player with financial musclesexperience in large-scale asset management and, now, an appetite for primary resources.
“Vaca Muerta has always interested us, we have always been interested in unconventional”said company sources, who admitted that for years the oil and gas sector was on the radar but was difficult to penetrate due to entry costs. “We look at everything, we are obliged. We are recovering assets“they added.
For his part, Tomasevich stated: “Today we deliver a solid company, with strengthened infrastructure, validated technical information and a clear growth roadmap.”
Interest in Metrogas and other assets
The purchase of assets in Vaca Muerta It’s just the tip of the iceberg of a diversification strategy that Central Puerto It has been executing on several simultaneous fronts.
In gas distribution, the company participates in the sale process of Metrogaswhich YPF started to get rid of 70% of the share capital.
In mining, the company is advancing with a lithium project in the Tres Cruces salt flat, in Catamarca – which shares characteristics with the neighboring Tres Quebradas and shows promising concentrations of the mineral -, with the objective of having feasibility at the end of the year and starting the construction of the production plant from 2027. In addition, it owns almost 10% of Diablillo, a gold and silver project in Salta and Catamarca, whose feasibility would be known in the coming months: If it is profitable, the construction of the plant would take 36 months.
In the forestry sector, Central Puerto plans to build in Corrientes what would be the largest sawmill in the world, with an investment of between US$80 and US$100 millionwith a view to the second semester.
In electrical generation and storage, The company has already started the construction of 210 MW batteries within the framework of the AlmaGBA programwith equipment on the way and civil engineering works underway, aiming to be ready by the summer of 2027. The batteries will be installed on the land of the Puerto and Costanera plants (that They bought from the Italian company Enel in 2023).
Central Puerto also prepares offers for AlmaSADIthe national 700 MW storage program, with presentation scheduled for the first week of June.
Added to this is the renewal, in January, of the concession of the Piedra del Águila hydroelectric plantthe largest complex in Comahue with 1,440 MW of installed capacity, for which it offered US$245 million. and a joint venture with YPF Luz to build an electrical line for mining in Salta and Jujuy, a project that gained momentum following Rio Tinto’s decision to expand its operations in Hombre Nuevo.
In generation, the generator also has an interest in keeping the San Martín (TSM) and Manuel Belgrano (TMB) thermoelectric plants, which Enarsa must put out to tender and in which Central Puerta is the most relevant private shareholder.
