November exports
As the 2025 calendar moves toward year-end, data from Argentina’s foreign trade report, known as the Argentine Trade Exchange (ICA) and published monthly by the national statistics agency INDEC, reveal a structural shift under way in the country’s economy: energy is no longer a drain on foreign reserves, but their main source of relief.
According to the latest official figures, the energy sector not only posted a surplus of $765 million in November, but did so with a sharp 77.4% increase from the $431 million recorded in the same month of 2024. Data from Argentina’s Energy Secretariat show the cumulative energy trade balance reaching $6.91 billion, an 85% rise from the $3.73 billion posted in the same period a year earlier. Consulting firm Romano Group estimates that over the past 12 months, the energy trade balance accumulated a surplus of $7.79 billion.
Crude oil takes center stage
The main driver of this shift has a clear name: crude oil. In a context where international prices did not always cooperate, falling 8.7% year over year, Argentina benefited from higher output. Export volumes of fuels and energy jumped 67.7%.
In other words, faced with a cheaper barrel, the country responded by placing larger volumes on global markets. This strategy has helped oil consolidate its position as the third most important product in Argentina’s overall export basket, accounting for nearly 8% of total exports.
On a year-to-date basis in 2025, crude oil exports rose 25.1%. In November alone, the product generated an additional $355 million in revenue compared with November 2024.
The gas turnaround and near-zero spending
A surplus is built not only by selling more abroad, but also by buying less from overseas. Here, the report’s “silent hero” is natural gas. Thanks to improvements in domestic infrastructure and higher local output, gas imports are on track to nearly disappear from the national energy bill, plunging 97.4% in the year-to-date period.
Adding to that, diesel imports fell 22.4%, resulting in an energy trade balance showing a level of breathing room not seen in decades.
Taken together, the rise in crude exports and the sharp drop in gas imports show that the surplus is driven by volumes, and that the scale of the shift has been enough to offset lower international prices.
Heading north
As for trading partners, the United States has consolidated its position as the main destination for these energy surpluses. The country is now Argentina’s third-largest overall export market, driven largely by demand for crude oil produced in the country’s southern basins.