After years of drilling and development and billions of U.S. dollars of investment, Argentina’s vast shale play Vaca Muerta has finally seen the first tangible results with the first exports of light crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the resource-rich formation. Apart from Argentina’s oil and gas group YPF, international oil and gas majors including Exxon, Chevron, Shell, and Total hold acreage positions in Vaca Muerta and have recently announced plans to proceed with major development projects in the most promising shale oil and gas basin outside the United States. Higher costs, regulatory uncertainty, and insufficient infrastructure have so far hampered a U.S.-style shale revolution in Argentina. The first oil and natural gas exports in recent weeks, however, signal that the years of development and the billions of dollars may finally start to pay off and make Argentina a net oil and gas exporter again. Big Oil’s […]