France’s TotalEnergies SE is in talks with at least two suitors who have submitted bids for its shale oil assets in Argentina, according to people familiar with the matter.
Argentina’s Vaca Muerta shale play posted significant first-quarter gains in 2025, building on last year’s strong performance, with oil output surging 26% and gas production rising 16% year-on-year, according to Rystad Energy estimates. This growth is shifting Argentina away from its historical dependence on gas imports, pushing the nation closer to energy self-sufficiency.
“The project has received the full support of the National and Provincial Governments in Argentina that granted all necessary approvals including the first ever unrestricted 30-year LNG export authorization in Argentina; qualification for the Incentive Regime for Large Investments; and provincial approval by the province of Río Negro for the offshore and onshore Environmental Impact Assessments for FLNG Hilli”, the companies said in a statement.
Harbour Energy and its partners have taken final investment decision on the Southern Energy FLNG export project offshore Argentina’s Río Negro province, the company said on Friday.
Argentina’s controversial president Javier Milei, a self-described anarcho-capitalist, on taking office enacted strict austerity measures to rein in rampant triple-digit inflation, kick-start the economy and slash a massive fiscal deficit.
Argentina scored its widest annual energy trade surplus in nearly two decades in 2024 thanks to booming oil and gas production in the country’s Vaca Muerta shale patch. It’s forecast to do even better this year.
Construction on the expanded plant is set to begin in mid-2025, with first production expected in 2028, followed by a three-year ramp up to full capacity.
Drilling activity is accelerating in Argentina’s Vaca Muerta shale region, thanks in large part to policies by the business-friendly government of President Javier Milei. Shale oil now accounts for about 60% of Argentine crude and has put the nation on course to reach production levels unseen in more than 20 years, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
Under the agreement, the countries will form a working group to identify the measures required for gas exports to be viable and study the development of export infrastructure, primarily emphasising Argentina’s Vaca Muerta formation.
South American nations are increasingly realigning energy strategies to capitalize on offshore oil and gas reserves, signaling a marked shift from previously stated goals of reducing dependence on fossil fuels to satisfy the net zero agenda of those obsessed with a faux climate emergency.