After a harsh 2020 and slow post-pandemic recovery Argentina’s hydrocarbon sector has come roaring back to life. A combination of substantially higher oil prices, government subsidies, favorable legislation and growing demand for light sweet crude oil and natural gas has caused activity in Argentina’s Vaca Muerta (Spanish for dead cow) soar. After fracking activity slowed to almost zero during May 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, it then soared to a 17-month high in January 2021. Data obtained by S&P Global Platts shows there were 662 frac stages in the Vaca Muerta by January 2021 or roughly double the 340 stages reported for the same month a year earlier. As a result, crude oil production in the Vaca Muerta is growing at an impressive clip. According to industry consultancy Rystad Energy oil production from the shale oil and natural gas play reached a record high of 124,000 […]