From floating LNG to crude export pipelines and NGL fractionation, a concurrent buildout across Vaca Muerta's full value chain represents the largest private investment cycle in Argentina's energy sector this century
With Neuquén crude output at 600,000 bbl/d and the Duplicar Plus system approaching saturation, Argentina's two main midstream operators are racing to build crude, gas, and NGL evacuation infrastructure — and manage the capacity gap in between
The Italian major's CEO argued that speed of monetization — not capital retrenchment — is the right response to energy market volatility; Argentina, where ENI is committed to a $20 billion LNG project and a new deepwater block off Uruguay, is among his clearest test cases
With a 30% stake in QatarEnergy LNG and direct exposure through the damaged Pearl GTL complex, Shell has declared force majeure on an estimated 6.8 MTPA of contracted volumes — and its CEO outlined a sequential supply shock already moving through Asia and tracking toward Europe
In less than 24 hours, Iran struck Ras Laffan twice — the world’s largest liquefied natural gas export complex before the conflict — and hit refineries in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. The benchmark crude price is trading at levels not seen since 2022. For Argentina, the equation has two sides, and neither is neutral.
In an Oil Flash Note, the bank’s Global Markets Strategy team estimated that the price effect of crude on global demand would trim just 1 million barrels per day in April. But there is a second form of demand destruction that standard elasticity does not capture: the one that occurs when physical inputs simply do not arrive. JPMorgan documented it company by company in Asia and concluded it is already underway.
Goldman Sachs projects Brent crude at $85 for April, assuming a short disruption in the Strait of Hormuz. But even with an immediate ceasefire, the energy infrastructure hit in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates will take months to recover. In Friday’s Shale24 Morning Call, the analysis identified the gap between what prices are discounting and what the actual damage implies as the central risk the market has not yet fully priced in.
John Mearsheimer argues that no one can tell a credible story about how the conflict with Iran ends. For energy markets, that uncertainty is not rhetorical — it is a pricing variable. Brent crude hit $119, and analysts warn that the geopolitical risk premium is here to stay.
In January, he halted drilling in North Dakota for the first time in 30 years. Weeks later, he traveled to New York to deepen his position in Argentina’s Neuquén Basin. “The rock doesn’t know which country it’s in,” said the businessman and adviser to Donald Trump.
The company, created by Aconcagua Energía together with Patagonian partners, is betting on the San Jorge Gulf Basin as a growth platform and is preparing to enter the unconventional segment. The strategic deal adds a significant portfolio of 24 rigs, including drilling, workover, pulling and specialized service units.
With seven professional training tracks and cutting-edge learning technology, the Vaca Muerta Institute was officially inaugurated at its headquarters in Neuquén’s Technology Park
Wood Mackenzie quantified the scale of the effort the industry will need to undertake to turn Vaca Muerta into a shale oil export hub. The key question: can execution capacity keep pace without creating bottlenecks?
Since the United States and Israel struck Iran on Feb. 28, the Strait of Hormuz has entered an active crisis. Brent crude has risen above $100 a barrel for the first time in four years, the global liquefied natural gas (LNG) market has been shaken, and fertilizer prices have already increased by as much as 35%. Argentina is playing on both sides of the field.
The announcement, made during Argentina Week in New York, includes the expansion of Tratayén, a 573-kilometer NGL pipeline and a maritime terminal in Bahía Blanca. The project could reach a final investment decision (FID) within 60 days, according to Shale24.
The transfer of Manantiales Behr to PECOM Servicios Energía S.A.U. has already been approved by the board and is pending before the provincial authorities. Even so, Horacio Marín announced in New York that the company is not closing the door on unconventional development in Chubut. The regulatory mechanism that would enable that already exists, and Pan American Energy activated it in Cerro Dragón.
