A subsidiary of Chevron Corporation has signed an agreement with affiliates of the Argentine oil company YPF that furthers the development of shale oil and gas resources from the Vaca Muerta formation located in the Neuquén province. The agreement calls for initial outlays of approximately US$1.24bn to enable the first phase of development in the Loma La Lata Norte and Loma Campaña areas. The initial program will include the drilling of 100 wells. The Loma La Lata field is currently producing more than 10,000 boe/d. YPF expects there will need to be about 1,500 wells drilled to reach target production of 50,000 bbl/d and about 30,000 barrels equivalent of gas per day by 2017. Chevron and YPF will develop the Vaca Muerta field on a 50-50 basis. Chevron Argentina currently produces an average of 21,000 barrels of crude oil and 4 mcf of natural gas in the Neuquén Basin, where it holds operated interests ranging from 18.8% to 100%.