Hydraulic fracturing, coalition activity and shock: Assessing the potential for coalition-based collective action in Argentina’s Vaca Muerta formation

Yet more ‘fracking’ social science: An overview of unconventional hydrocarbon development globally

“…Concerns about distribution of risks and benefits are one reason that emphasis has been put on increasing local voice in decision making. Reviews of research in the southern and western USA (Haggerty et al 2018, Theodori 2018, the comparison between the UK and Australia (Witt et al 2018b), and research from Mexico (Ontiveros et al 2018) and Argentina (Costie et al 2018) all point to notable disparities in who benefits from and who is negatively impacted by UHD. Perceptions of lacking procedural and distributive justice are one of the key motivators of activism on UHD.…”

Understanding productivity effects of hydraulic fracturing in unconventional natural gas deposits and implications for adoption in the developing world

“…Two possible explanations for this sluggish deployment are the need for countries to develop the technological sophistication embodied in HF, and concerns related to potential adverse environmental impacts, in particular the potential for water contamination, in countries that appear to be promising candidates for shale gas development (Mares, 2012, 2013; Dora, 2014; Gomes and Brandt, 2016; Sierra, 2016; Costie et al. , 2018; Evensen, 2018).…”

“…Much of this interest has been expressed by oil and gas majors like Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell, and Total (Mares 2014 a , 2014 b ; Costie et al. , 2018). Particularly important is the Vaca Muerta deposit, which has been referred to as the ‘crown jewel’ of Argentina's shale resources (Gomes and Brandt, 2016).…”

“…Development of Vaca Muerta began in earnest not long after, starting with an accord signed between Chevron and YPF, and ratified by the local government (Costie et al. , 2018). Despite these reforms, chronic national policy uncertainty works against development of Argentina's resources (Mares, 2013, 2014 b , 2014 c ; Gomes and Brandt, 2016).…”

“…Relatedly, Costie et al. (2018) argue that ‘antifracking coalition members responded to the [Chevron-YPF] accord by becoming considerably more active.’ One argument for the strength of such opposition is the belief that understanding of the risks associated with HF is weak. Indeed, Mares (2013) argues that such ‘environmental concerns will slow shale gas development in Argentina.’ A key goal of our analysis is to offer greater clarity of some of the key aspects of unconventional resource development.…”