New record in the Neuquén Basin
The Neuquén Basin closed a record year of activity.
December 2025 ended with 1,791 hydraulic fracturing stages in Vaca Muerta, signaling a year-end level below the annual monthly average and well below the periods of peak operational momentum. Even so, the cumulative annual figure represents a historic milestone in terms of productivity.
The data comes from a monthly analysis by NCS Multistage, based on reporting by Luciano Fucello, and is widely used as a key indicator to track progress in unconventional wells.
By company, YPF led activity in December with 778 stages, or 43% of the total, followed by Vista Energy with 260, or 15%, and Tecpetrol with 201, or 11%. They were followed by Pampa Energía with 158 stages, Chevron with 124, Pluspetrol with 124, Phoenix with 87 and Pan American Energy with 59, bringing the monthly total to 1,791 stages.
Compared with the rest of the year, December came in below the 2025 monthly average of 1,982 stages, with a full-year total of 23,784. The figure was far from the highs recorded earlier in the year. May marked the peak with 2,588 stages, followed by April with 2,214. In the second half of the year, the strongest months were August, with 2,163 stages, and October, with 2,020.
A decade of fracturing in Vaca Muerta
The annual summary, however, shows strong growth. 2025 closed with 23,784 fracturing stages, 34% more than in 2024, or about 6,000 additional stages, underscoring the industrial consolidation of shale development in the Neuquén Basin.
Major companies operating unconventional acreage expect activity to increase in the second half of 2026, ahead of the start-up of the VMOS oil pipeline, which will connect the Neuquén Basin with the San Matías Gulf in the southern province of Río Negro.
The region aims to soon become the Southern Cone’s main export hub and a significant global player in liquefied natural gas exports over the coming decade.
Fracturing stages are a precise barometer of activity: a higher number indicates more wells ready to produce, supporting future output growth.
In this context, December’s results point to a year-end focused on maintaining stability, but without the strength seen in the first half of the year, when records were set, or in certain parts of the third quarter.
The lowest activity levels of 2025 were recorded in January, with 1,761 stages, and November, with 1,762. December came close to those lows, slightly exceeding them, and confirmed a final two-month period with more controlled activity compared with the peaks seen earlier in 2025.