Pan American Energy finds oil reserve in Argentina

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Pan American Energy has discovered an oil reserve in southern Argentina in one of the biggest such finds of recent years in the energy-hungry country, a provincial governor said on Saturday.

Buenos Aires-based Pan American, which is controlled by BP Plc (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research), is Argentina’s second-biggest oil producer and it found the new reserve in the Patagonian province of Chubut.

“An oil reserve has been discovered in the Escalante basin that’s twice as big as what Chubut has produced to date,” said Chubut Gov. Mario Das Neves in a statement posted on the provincial government Web site www.chubut.gov.ar.

“By 2007, all the companies produced 60 million barrels, and this reserve … represents almost double what they produce,” he added.

Reuters