Catriel, City in Río Negro Province, Argentina
Catriel is a city in Río Negro province in Argentina located along the right bank of the Colorado River. It is mainly a residential area with approximately 24,000 residents, wide streets lined with homes and trees, shops, cafes, and spaces where people work and spend time with their families.
Catriel was founded in 1899 as a pastoral colony where farming and livestock dominated early life. Oil discovery in the 1960s, beginning with the RCO XI well, dramatically transformed the city into a major hub for oil extraction and processing.
The city is easily accessible by road, situated about 700 km from the provincial capital Viedma, with a local bus station connecting to other regional cities. Movement around town is simple by car or on foot, and the straight, wide streets make navigation straightforward.
The city is known as the Oil Capital of Río Negro and hosts the Provincial Oil Festival every year around late November featuring music, local food, and displays about the oil industry. This celebration reveals how deeply oil production shapes the town's identity and community life.
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