The Trump administration is betting on a strategic reserve of critical minerals to counter China’s dominance, shield its supply chain and reshape the global balance of key resources for the energy transition and defense.
In 2025, Argentina recorded the largest energy trade surplus in its history. In the coming years, that record could be surpassed as projects approved and under review through the Incentive Regime for Large Investments (RIGI) move forward. Some analysts forecast an energy trade balance generating a combined $48 billion by 2030 and $67 billion by 2035.
The government of President Javier Milei is rolling out a multidimensional strategy to turn energy, mining amake itnd hydrocarbons into the new growth engines of an Argentina that aspires to global power status. The new Incentive Regime for Large Investments, known as RIGI, the privatization agenda and market-based pricing are the main tools being used to achieve that goal.
The Neuquén Basin now accounts for nearly 70% of the country’s oil and gas production, solidifying its role as Argentina’s main hydrocarbon engine for the next five years.
The collapse in purchases of foreign gas, down 97.4%, saved the country $571 million, while the sharp increase in crude export volumes offset the decline in international prices.
Argentina LNG was the main topic that drew more than 60 representatives from Japan’s energy sector to a recent webinar organized by the Argentine Embassy in Japan.
U.S. companies that receive loans or guarantees from EXIM are not allowed to use them for projects in Argentina, which the U.S. agency classifies as “high risk.”
