Shale spurs Argentina’s largest energy trade surplus since 2006

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.

Exports outstripped imports to the tune of US$5.7 billion last year as shale pipeline expansions boosted crude shipments and reduced overseas natural gas purchases, according to Argentina’s Energy Department.

While demand and price fluctuations play a role in the trade data, “there is a structural change that’s heralding a trend of higher exports and lower imports,” said Nicolas Gadano, an energy expert at Buenos Aires consultancy firm Empiria.

Empiria projects the trade surplus will grow to about US$7 billion this year. That would help President Javier Milei’s efforts to build up Argentina’s reserves of hard currency — a key step to lifting long-standing capital controls that stifle foreign investment.