Fortín de Piedra remained among the top gas-producing areas nationally, while Loma Campana and Bajo del Choique led in oil extraction. YPF maintained market leadership with 348,000 barrels daily, representing 38% of national production. Pan American Energy held second position at 103,000 barrels, while Pluspetrol moved to third with 94,000 barrels daily, displacing Vista Energy following the integration of former ExxonMobil Exploration Argentina assets.
Fracking activity in Vaca Muerta rebounded in August with 2,262 stages completed, up 12.53% from July’s 2,010 stages. The recovery followed a sharp monthly contraction and brought the year-to-date total to 19,230 stages, surpassing the 17,814 stages completed in all of 2024. Oil-directed drilling dominated activity, accounting for 86.4% of fracturing work as companies prioritized crude development over gas. YPF led with 998 stages, followed by Vista Energy with 416 and Tecpetrol with 228 in Los Toldos Este 2.
National oil production reached a record 916,200 barrels daily in July, positioning Argentina 83,800 barrels short of the one million barrel threshold targeted by government and industry. Crude exports generated USD 1,020 million in July, a 144% increase over the prior year, with accumulative seven-month exports totaling USD 5,722 million. Neuquén province alone exported USD 897 million in energy during July, accumulating USD 5,122 million year-to-date. The VMOS pipeline project, with a cabecera station in Allen, Río Negro, is scheduled to begin operations in February with initial capacity of 180,000 barrels daily, expanding to 550,000 barrels by mid-2027.
This article was curated and published as part of our South American energy market coverage.
