Argentina’s Gas Future Is Taking Shape
A few years ago, I asked whether natural gas could be Argentina‘s “silver lining,” writing about Argentina’s enormous Vaca Muerta resource and asked the critical question: Could Argentina actually get that gas to market?
At the time, things to watch: reversing regional pipeline flows as Bolivian production declined, accessing large markets such as Brazil, developing LNG exports, attracting investment, and securing long-term contracts rather than relying on the spot market.
A lot has happened since then.
On the heels of Peter Thiel’s disclosed $76 million position in Vista Energy, (its second-largest position after Amazon), Argentina just released a new technical study estimating 30.17 billion barrels of technically recoverable Vaca Muerta oil.
And on the gas side, the infrastructure needed is finally taking shape. To wit, YPF, Eni and XRG are joining for a $51 billion Argentina LNG project (2 FLNG @12 MTPA) and Southern Energy has FIDon approximately 6 MTPA of FLNG for 2027–2028.
And remember my suggestion that declining Bolivian production might eventually allow Argentina to reverse the system and send Vaca Muerta gas toward Brazil? That started happening in 2025.
I also wrote: “contracts trump spot.” Southern Energy has now signed an eight-year agreementto supply Germany’s SEFE with 2 MTPA beginning in late 2027 which is Argentina’s first long-term LNG export contract.
The predictions held up pretty well.
But even with the vast resources it has in Vaca Muerta, the challenges for Argentina are considerable. And solving them depends on answering this question:
How quickly Argentina can build the pipelines, processing, liquefaction, financing arrangements and commercial relationships needed to connect its resources with the global market?
Argentina already posted a record $7.8 billion energy trade surplus in 2025. Can substantially more Vaca Muerta gas can reach Brazil, LNG buyers and other markets?
Maybe the “Land of Silver” really does have a silver lining after all.
Read the original RBAC article.
And stay tuned. I think it’s time for a follow-up on Argentina. Get a further update when Part 2 is released for The Biggest Natural Gas Pipeline Projects You Should Know in 2026 (Part 1 here).
If you are interested in looking at where Vaca Muerta gas could go, who will buy it, and how the new projects could affect regional and global gas and LNG markets using RBAC’s G2M2® Market Simulator for Global Gas and LNG™, contact RBAC for a presentation.
