Background
This section provides context for the YPF Unmanned Aerial Monitoring Service engagement, including company overview, operational challenges, and strategic opportunity.
Contents
| Section | Description |
|---|---|
| About YPF | Argentina's largest hydrocarbons operator and Vaca Muerta operations |
| The Challenge | Traditional inspection limitations and 24/7 monitoring requirements |
| RFP Requirements | Hardware, AI, SLA, and integration requirements from the pliego |
| Strategic Opportunity | 4-year service contract and platform potential |
Why This Matters
YPF's Vaca Muerta operations span 2.9 million acres of remote, arid terrain with dispersed wellheads, pipelines, and processing facilities. Traditional manual inspection methods cannot provide the coverage, frequency, or safety that modern operations demand.
Safety Imperative: The 2018 Bandurria Sur blowout contaminated 45-85 hectares and suspended YPF's license. The 2023 labor strike cited "business contempt for safety" after serious workplace incidents. Autonomous aerial monitoring addresses both asset integrity and personnel safety.
Regulatory Pressure: Argentina's methane regulations (Resolution 143/1998) and YPF's own commitments (10% reduction by 2026, 30% by 2030) require continuous emissions monitoring that manual patrols cannot achieve.
Operational Scale: With $36B in planned investment and 700 new wells through 2030, YPF needs scalable monitoring infrastructure that grows with operations without proportional increases in field personnel.
Moving Forward
The Unmanned Aerial Monitoring Service represents YPF's opportunity to transform asset integrity and environmental compliance through autonomous drone operations combined with AI-powered multi-sensor intelligence. The Aerotec-Trifork partnership delivers both operational capability and the AI platform to extract actionable insights from the data.