FEASIBILITY OF SHALE GAS IMPLEMENTATION IN ARGENTINA BASED ON NORTH AMERICAN EXPERIENCE
The discovery of huge reserves of unconventional gas, or also known as shale gas, has generated great expectations in the world energy market. The US has the world's largest shale gas reserve, and is the pioneer in its exploration and production. The objective of this research is to investigate and the potential of exploration and production of shale gas from the point of view of technological process, environment, infrastructure and regulatory aspects, in Argentina in the region of Vaca Muerta. These variables will be considered in the light of the US experience. Currently, the world is divided on this issue, as there are a number of uncertainties related to the extraction process known as "fracking" in certain geological structures and especially in relation to the environment where several environmental organs attest to the contamination of groundwater and earthquakes from injection of chemical additives, sand and water in the wells for the removal of shale gas. The hypothesis adopted for this dissertation will be that Argentina, although it has the second largest unconventional gas reserve in the world, will not be able to develop these resources satisfactorily in the short and medium term (10 years) and turn them into reserves / production in the light of how it has come about in the experience in the United States. As for the approach, the research is a combination of qualitative and quantitative, will also be an exploratory and descriptive research focusing on the main region of Shale Gas Argentina - Neuquén. In this way, the work can contribuite to the knowledge of this energy source in Brazil and in Argentina, which will also add value to the debate about the preponderant success variables for the sustainable production of this important energy source.