Official May 2026 data from Argentina's Secretariat of Energy mark a turning point: national crude output rose at an unprecedented pace, with Neuquén production up 35.8% year-on-year and reshaping the country's hydrocarbon map in real time
Argentine Economy Minister Luis Caputo confirmed the filing after meeting Chevron CFO Eimear Bonner and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Laura Lane. The ticket dwarfs the U.S. major's individual public commitments over its 13-year history in the country and ranks among the largest single applications under Argentina's Large Investment Incentive Regime
The Argentine family-controlled company closed the quarter by commissioning a solar plant supplying Stellantis's Ferreyra facility, part of a $100 million joint investment. The milestone caps an expansion cycle that took installed capacity from 119 MW in 2023 to 267 MW in 2025, with annual generation rising from roughly 246 GWh to about 555 GWh — driven by the 122 MW La Rioja Solar Complex, one of the country's largest under the MATER regime.
Neil Herrington and Alejandro Díaz will sign the first corporate-sector document designed to put February's intergovernmental pact into commercial motion on Thursday, April 30. Argentina's Coordinating Secretary for Energy and Mining, Daniel González, will deliver the opening remarks.
Fuel and energy exports climbed 23.2% year-on-year to $1.24 billion while imports dropped 38.5% to $145 million. The full first quarter also set a surplus record.
February output held at 874,000 bbl/d — a 15.8% year-on-year gain — confirming the new floor rather than a seasonal spike. Neuquén drove nearly seven in ten barrels, but a 126,000 bbl/d gap to the 1 million bbl/d target and unresolved transport constraints mean geology is no longer the binding variable
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.”
