The loading and export of crude from Neuquén Basin operators to the United States was carried out more efficiently and quickly thanks to newly inaugurated infrastructure built in partnership with Oldelval.
With unconventional oil growing at an annual rate of 31% and gas keeping pace in the flagship basin, Argentina is sending a clear signal to international markets: the country has a world-class shale play.
Both companies signed an asset swap agreement. YPF acquires Pluspetrol’s stake in the Meseta Buena Esperanza, Aguada Villanueva and Las Tacanas blocks, three areas considered strategic for the development of the Argentina LNG project. Pluspetrol, in turn, acquires an interest in the La Escalonada and Rincón de Ceniza blocks.
The memorandum acts as a kind of “local RIGI,” setting out clear conditions and long-term commitments for executing the project within provincial territory.
In 2025, Argentina’s energy sector posted a trade surplus of $7.815 billion, representing 70% of the country’s total annual trade surplus. In December, oil production reached a record 868,712 barrels per day.
Preparatory work is underway for the directional drilling on the north bank, while on the south bank a welded and hydrostatically tested pipe section is ready for insertion, with additional works still pending at the site.
Analysts from UBS, Kpler, Ninepoint and Bison offer a technical take on Venezuela, Iran, energy and the market impact of geopolitical decisions led by Donald Trump and his former European allies.
The agreement marks the formal start of a strategic relationship between the two companies, aimed at boosting DAPSA’s growth through the marketing of Chevron commodities in the region. The parties will also evaluate additional areas of business integration, including the expansion of DAPSA’s supply logistics.
The four-well pilot in the shale oil window—carried out in partnership with TotalEnergies as operator—confirmed commercially viable production. It involved horizontal wells with hydraulic fracturing in the oil window, a liquids-rich shale zone distinct from the dry gas window that dominates other areas of the formation.
The pipeline will be 209 km long, linking the northern area of the Neuquén Basin with the pumping station in Allen, Río Negro. The project will expand the transport system’s capacity from 20,400 to 55,400 cubic meters per day and will connect to the Vaca Muerta Oil Sur (VMOS) system.
This video shows the extraction of extra-heavy crude, characteristic of Venezuela’s Orinoco Oil Belt. After this stage, the oil is processed using inputs supplied by Iran, then transported by pipeline and ultimately exported to China.
With a focus on shale development and the LNG project, the proceeds will be used to support the company’s aggressive investment plan in Argentina and to refinance existing liabilities. The bond, with an implied 11-year maturity and principal repayments in three annual installments starting in year nine, saw solid demand that allowed it to be priced in the middle of the initial book range of $300 million to $500 million.
When different types of crude are compared, the mistaken idea sometimes arises that one type of oil is intrinsically “better” than another, but from a process engineering and asset-optimization perspective, the reality is very different.
Merey 16 is Venezuela’s benchmark crude, a heavy and sour oil that accounts for most exports by state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA). Why it matters and what it changes for other benchmark crudes.
Viscous, high in sulfur, cheap to extract but expensive to refine, and increasingly sought after by complex refineries along the U.S. Gulf Coast and in Asia, heavy crudes are set for a hemispheric contest going forward if Merey 16 makes a comeback.
