Argentina’s President Javier Milei met with top executives from TotalEnergies and Eni in Paris earlier this month to discuss Argentina’s energy sector, including projects linked to the Vaca Muerta shale formation and the development of the Argentina LNG export project.
Speaking at the Argentina Week Paris investment conference, held from 30 September to 2 October, TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné said the company plans to invest about $10 billion in Argentina across several projects, including drilling new wells in Tierra del Fuego and expanding gas production in the Neuquén Basin.
On the sidelines of the same event, Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi met with Milei to discuss the Argentina LNG project, which the Italian major is developing with state-owned oil and gas company YPF and ADNOC’s XRG investment arm. The project is designed to process gas from the Vaca Muerta shale formation using two floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) units in the Atlantic Ocean.
FID Expected by Year-End
Eni said in a news release that it expects a final investment decision on the Argentina LNG project by the end of this year. The project is expected to begin producing 12 mtpa of LNG in 2030 through two FLNG units, each with a capacity of 6 mpta. Eni also said it is evaluating a potential expansion phase that could increase capacity to 18 mpta.
Considered one of the world’s largest unconventional oil and gas reservoirs, Argentina's Vaca Muerta shale formation produced 670,000 B/D of oil and 95 MMcm/d of natural gas in August, accounting for roughly 72% of the country’s oil production and 62% of its gas output, Reuters reported, citing energy consultancy GKC.
The shale formation is the foundation of Argentina's energy growth strategy and a major source of future export revenue. State-run energy company YPF projects that, by 2031, Vaca Muerta could generate $50 billion in export revenue, potentially rivaling Argentina’s agriculture sector, according to Reuters.
"We want to enhance production to 16 MMcm/d," Pouyanné told Reuters. The French digital news site and construction industry portal Batinfo reported that TotalEnergies’ planned investment of more than $10 billion in multiple projects would be deployed over 10 years and divided into three parts:
- A shale gas expansion ($4 billion to $5 billion) focused on boosting output from the Aguada Pichana Este block in Vaca Muerta to 16 MMcm/d
- A new shale oil extraction project ($5 billion) in the San Roque block (also in the Vaca Muerta formation)
- A $1.5 billion offshore gas development
TotalEnergies says it accounts for about a quarter of Argentina's current gas production. That output is part of its forecast 4% annual growth in overall energy production (oil, gas, and electricity combined) through 2030. It is targeting average annual oil and gas production growth of more than 3% between 2025 and 2030 and aims to achieve 2%–3% annual growth from 2030 to 2035, according to the operator’s 2026 Strategy & Outlook presentation.
Eni has been active in exploration and production in Argentina since 1968 and is a partner with YPF and XRG in the integrated Argentina LNG project. The Italian major has also signed a sales and purchase agreement to acquire a 32% interest in the upstream blocks Meseta Buena Esperanza, Aguada Villanueva, and Las Tacanas in Vaca Muerta, the company said.