YPF executives and Neuquén governor meet Trump’s new Latin America envoy in Washington to promote Vaca Muerta investment

The September 1 meeting at the Argentine embassy in Washington brought together three key actors driving Vaca Muerta development for the first time in a coordinated US outreach effort. Argentine ambassador Alec Oxenford described their joint presence as “a powerful signal about how strategically important Argentina’s energy transformation has become and about the strong current coordination between the national government, Neuquén and YPF.” The delegation’s agenda included bilateral meetings with US counterparts and a high-level Atlantic Council event focused on Argentina’s energy opportunities.

Senior representatives from the US State, Energy and Defense departments attended embassy activities, along with officials from the Development Finance Corporation, EXIM Bank and BID Invest. Private sector participants included executives from Chevron, Continental Resources, Bechtel, Tesla, the Argentine Petroleum and Gas Institute, the US Chamber of Commerce, Atlantic Council, Americas Society and Council of the Americas. Continental Resources founder Harold Hamm, a defining figure in the American shale revolution, attended alongside Continental CEO Doug Lawler, Pan American Energy Group chairman Alejandro Bulgheroni, and Integra Capital founder José Luis Manzano.

Marín emphasized the meetings’ importance for building relationships and attracting investment, stating the company is convinced of Vaca Muerta’s enormous potential. He highlighted YPF’s leadership in projects transforming Argentina into an energy exporter. Oxenford explained that Vaca Muerta holds the world’s second-largest shale gas resources and fourth-largest shale oil resources, noting that what was long viewed primarily as geological potential is now a world-class producing basin. Major investments in upstream development, pipelines and LNG are creating the required infrastructure for export-scale operations.

The ambassador emphasized that Argentina is now positioned to leverage this potential following transformations driven by the Milei government. For the first time, the country’s extraordinary natural resources are beginning to translate at scale into major project investment. The initiative aims to present Vaca Muerta’s potential and its impact on the economy through investment, production, exports, employment generation and macroeconomic stability to the US government, financial institutions and investors. Oxenford noted the platform provided YPF and Marín high-level opportunity to present the company’s ambitious transformation, its Vaca Muerta strategy and major oil, gas, infrastructure and LNG projects converting Argentina into a global energy player.