BUENOS AIRES, July 29 (Reuters) - Argentina's unconventional
oil and gas output is under threat from protests by indigenous
groups blocking access to the country's main shale field,
state-controlled energy company YPF said on Wednesday.
The Zonal Xwanco and Campo Maripe communities are protesting
over their territorial claims to the Loma Campana field in the
southern Neuquén province, which accounts for nearly all of
Argentina's shale production.
YPF is exploiting that field together with Chevron Corp
. Argentina is trying to ramp up exploitation of its vast
but barely tapped Vaca Muerta shale formation to ameliorate an
energy deficit that is causing financial strains.
"The production of 10,000 barrels of barrels of oil and more
than 1.5 million cubic meters of gas is at risk if the protest
carries on all of today," YPF said in a release.
The protest started on Tuesday morning.
"YPF considers it necessary for (the protesters) to end this
kind of attitude that runs contrary to the interests of a
country that today, in a complex international context, needs
everyone to make an effort so it can once again become
self-sufficient in energy."
(Reporting by Eliana Raszewski; Writing by Sarah Marsh; Editing
by Steve Orlofsky)
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