Halliburton said it has been awarded a multibillion-dollar contract by Argentina’s YPF to provide completions services for the national oil company’s unconventional development program in the Vaca Muerta shale.
In a 13 April release, the global service company said the award followed a competitive process and establishes a dedicated, exclusive, multiyear collaboration. Halliburton added that the bundled contract sets a new benchmark for international unconventional fracturing services.
The award includes Halliburton’s first international deployment of its Zeus electric fracturing technology. The Houston-based company will also provide YPF with its Octiv Auto Frac service, which is designed to deliver more consistent pumping operations through automation.
“This award significantly increases our footprint in Argentina and reflects our customers’ confidence in Halliburton to deliver large-scale unconventional fracturing through technology leadership and operational excellence. This strategic collaboration with YPF brings the industry's most advanced technology to Argentina,” Casey Maxwell, president of Halliburton’s Western Hemisphere unit, said in a statement.
Halliburton’s automated fracturing technology debuted last year in the Permian Basin, where the company said it helped shale producer Coterra Energy increase stage efficiency by 17%. At the time, Halliburton said the system reduced the workload of human operators by 88%.
Halliburton first introduced its electric fracturing pump fleet, known as Zeus, in 2021 with Chesapeake Energy (now called Expand Energy) in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale.