Argentina’s state oil and gas company YPF expects its oil and gas production from shale deposits to increase 35 percent this year thanks to falling costs at the huge Vaca Muerta play, the company said. It added, however, that overall production will decline by 2-3 percent because of maturing fields elsewhere. Drilling costs for horizontal wells had fallen to $1,390 per lateral foot at end-2017, YPF said as quoted by Reuters, versus $2,270 in 2016 and $3,050 in 2015. Thanks to this, YPF now plans to drill 100 wells in Vaca Muerta. It has also slated five pilot projects for launch this year, one of them in partnership with Norway’s state oil and gas major Statoil. YPF also has joint ventures with Total, BP, Shell, Schlumberger, and Wintershall in Vaca Muerta, on which the Argentine company is focusing as a means of ensuring long-term oil and gas production growth. […]