Enarsa
Encyclopedia
Enarsa in full Energía Argentina Sociedad Anónima, is a company managed by the national state of Argentina
for the integral exploitation of petroleum
and natural gas
, and the production, industrialization, transport and trade of these and of electricity
.
Enarsa was founded on December 29, 2004 by an initiative of President
Néstor Kirchner
with the political goal of gaining a place for the state in an oligopolic
market
that was completely privatized
during the 1990s, mainly with the sale of Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales
to the Spanish
corporation Repsol
, sponsored by the Menem
administration.
The creation of Enarsa was a response to the energy crisis
endured by Argentina in 2004, caused in part by lack of investment
of the private fossil fuel
companies in infrastructure needed to meet the demand
of natural gas. The price of natural gas, key to energy generation and transportation in Argentina, was frozen since 2002, while gasoline
and diesel had increased their price
sharply following the devaluation
of the peso
at the peak of the Argentine economic crisis
.
Enarsa's main asset is the ownership of all rights of supervision and concessions of exploitation of offshore energy resources (i. e. all kinds of fossil fuels that are or may be found in the maritime platform). The Argentine national state owns 53% of the company; another 12% is to be shared by the provincial
states, and the remaining 35% will be traded in the stock market
.
n PDVSA, Uruguay
an ANCAP
, Paraguay
an Petropar and Chile
an ENAP
, as well as possibly Petroecuador
. Espinoza also mentioned contacts with Chinese
and Russia
n companies.
The Argentine Minister of Energy Julio de Vido
has stated that the government is working to create a supranational energy company which would include Venezuela, Bolivia and Argentina. PDVSA participates in Enarsa with investment and technical counseling.
According to Jorge Haiek, one of Enarsa's board directors, Argentina should cease to export oil in order to preserve a strategic reserve for the near future, and attempt to substitute natural gas for liquid fuel whenever possible, until alternative sources can be developed. Argentina already has more natural gas vehicle
s than any other country in the world. Enarsa will most probably find and exploit natural gas in much larger amounts than petroleum, and emphasis on finding gas should also be applied to onshore exploitation, since shortage of gas was the cause of the 2004 energy crisis, and domestic demand has doubled in 12 years.
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
for the integral exploitation of petroleum
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
and natural gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
, and the production, industrialization, transport and trade of these and of electricity
Electricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
.
Enarsa was founded on December 29, 2004 by an initiative of President
President of Argentina
The President of the Argentine Nation , usually known as the President of Argentina, is the head of state of Argentina. Under the national Constitution, the President is also the chief executive of the federal government and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.Through Argentine history, the...
Néstor Kirchner
Néstor Kirchner
Néstor Carlos Kirchner was an Argentine politician who served as the 54th President of Argentina from 25 May 2003 until 10 December 2007. Previously, he was Governor of Santa Cruz Province since 10 December 1991. He briefly served as Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations ...
with the political goal of gaining a place for the state in an oligopolic
Oligopoly
An oligopoly is a market form in which a market or industry is dominated by a small number of sellers . The word is derived, by analogy with "monopoly", from the Greek ὀλίγοι "few" + πόλειν "to sell". Because there are few sellers, each oligopolist is likely to be aware of the actions of the others...
market
Market
A market is one of many varieties of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby parties engage in exchange. While parties may exchange goods and services by barter, most markets rely on sellers offering their goods or services in exchange for money from buyers...
that was completely privatized
Privatization
Privatization is the incidence or process of transferring ownership of a business, enterprise, agency or public service from the public sector to the private sector or to private non-profit organizations...
during the 1990s, mainly with the sale of Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales
Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales
Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales is an Argentine oil company.Founded in 1922 under President Hipólito Yrigoyen's administration, it was privatized in 1993 by Carlos Menem, and bought by the Spanish firm Repsol; the resulting merger in 1999 produced Repsol YPF...
to the Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
corporation Repsol
Repsol YPF
Repsol YPF, S.A. is an integrated Spanish oil and gas company with operations in 29 countries...
, sponsored by the Menem
Carlos Menem
Carlos Saúl Menem is an Argentine politician who was President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. He is currently an Argentine National Senator for La Rioja Province.-Early life:...
administration.
The creation of Enarsa was a response to the energy crisis
Argentine energy crisis (2004)
The Argentine energy crisis was a natural gas supply shortage experienced by Argentina in 2004. After the recession triggered by the economic crisis and ending in 2002, Argentina's energy demands grew quickly as industry recovered, but extraction and transportation of natural gas, a cheap and...
endured by Argentina in 2004, caused in part by lack of investment
Investment
Investment has different meanings in finance and economics. Finance investment is putting money into something with the expectation of gain, that upon thorough analysis, has a high degree of security for the principal amount, as well as security of return, within an expected period of time...
of the private fossil fuel
Fossil fuel
Fossil fuels are fuels formed by natural processes such as anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms. The age of the organisms and their resulting fossil fuels is typically millions of years, and sometimes exceeds 650 million years...
companies in infrastructure needed to meet the demand
Supply and demand
Supply and demand is an economic model of price determination in a market. It concludes that in a competitive market, the unit price for a particular good will vary until it settles at a point where the quantity demanded by consumers will equal the quantity supplied by producers , resulting in an...
of natural gas. The price of natural gas, key to energy generation and transportation in Argentina, was frozen since 2002, while gasoline
Gasoline
Gasoline , or petrol , is a toxic, translucent, petroleum-derived liquid that is primarily used as a fuel in internal combustion engines. It consists mostly of organic compounds obtained by the fractional distillation of petroleum, enhanced with a variety of additives. Some gasolines also contain...
and diesel had increased their price
Inflation
In economics, inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services. Consequently, inflation also reflects an erosion in the purchasing power of money – a...
sharply following the devaluation
Devaluation
Devaluation is a reduction in the value of a currency with respect to those goods, services or other monetary units with which that currency can be exchanged....
of the peso
Argentine peso
The peso is the currency of Argentina, identified by the symbol $ preceding the amount in the same way as many countries using dollar currencies. It is subdivided into 100 centavos. Its ISO 4217 code is ARS...
at the peak of the Argentine economic crisis
Argentine economic crisis (1999-2002)
The Argentine economic crisis was a financial situation, tied to poilitical unrest, that affected Argentina's economy during the late 1990s and early 2000s...
.
Enarsa's main asset is the ownership of all rights of supervision and concessions of exploitation of offshore energy resources (i. e. all kinds of fossil fuels that are or may be found in the maritime platform). The Argentine national state owns 53% of the company; another 12% is to be shared by the provincial
Provinces of Argentina
Argentina is subdivided into twenty-three provinces and one autonomous city...
states, and the remaining 35% will be traded in the stock market
Stock market
A stock market or equity market is a public entity for the trading of company stock and derivatives at an agreed price; these are securities listed on a stock exchange as well as those only traded privately.The size of the world stock market was estimated at about $36.6 trillion...
.
Prospects
The president of the company board, Exequiel Espinoza, announced in April 2005 that Enarsa will participate in joint offshore exploration activities with several other state-owned oil companies in the region, including VenezuelaVenezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
n PDVSA, Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
an ANCAP
ANCAP (Uruguay)
ANCAP is a state-owned company in Uruguay. It is involved in the production of petroleum products, Portland cement and alcoholic beverages. It operates the Uruguay's single oil refinery at La Teja with capacity of per day...
, Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
an Petropar and Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
an ENAP
Empresa Nacional del Petróleo
Empresa Nacional del Petróleo, or ENAP is a state owned company in Chile, based in Las Condes. The company is engaged in the exploration, production, refining, and marketing of hydrocarbons and their derivatives. ENAP was created by Law No. 9618, June 19, 1950...
, as well as possibly Petroecuador
Petroecuador
Petroecuador [Petroleums of Ecuador State Enterprise] is the national oil company of Ecuador. It is a state-owned enterprise, founded on September 26, 1989...
. Espinoza also mentioned contacts with Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n companies.
The Argentine Minister of Energy Julio de Vido
Julio de Vido
Julio Miguel de Vido is an Argentine policy maker, currently the President's Minister of Planning and Public Works.-Biography:...
has stated that the government is working to create a supranational energy company which would include Venezuela, Bolivia and Argentina. PDVSA participates in Enarsa with investment and technical counseling.
According to Jorge Haiek, one of Enarsa's board directors, Argentina should cease to export oil in order to preserve a strategic reserve for the near future, and attempt to substitute natural gas for liquid fuel whenever possible, until alternative sources can be developed. Argentina already has more natural gas vehicle
Natural gas vehicle
thumb|right|200px|2009 [[Honda Civic GX]] hooked up to Phill refueling system.A natural gas vehicle or NGV is an alternative fuel vehicle that uses compressed natural gas or liquefied natural gas as a clean alternative to other fossil fuels...
s than any other country in the world. Enarsa will most probably find and exploit natural gas in much larger amounts than petroleum, and emphasis on finding gas should also be applied to onshore exploitation, since shortage of gas was the cause of the 2004 energy crisis, and domestic demand has doubled in 12 years.
Sources
In Spanish unless otherwise noted.- El ABC de Enarsa (Página/12)
- Jorge Haiek, director de Enarsa, explica las prioridades de la compañía estatal (Página/12)
- Enarsa buscará crudo en el mar junto a otras petroleras (Clarín)
- Argentina propone reunión regional para crear "PetroAmérica" (El País, Uruguay)