Vista buys Petronas’ Argentina oil stake in US$1.5-billion deal

Vista Energy, the number two crude producer in Argentina’s burgeoning Vaca Muerta shale basin, has acquired Petronas’ 50 percent stake in an oil field there.

The acquisition of the stake in the area, called La Amarga Chica, is worth around US$1.5 billion.

Vista will pay US$900 million in cash now, US$300 million of which are funded with a bank loan from Banco Santander SA. Petronas will also receive about a seven-percent stake in Vista, worth some US$300 million. Vista will pay another US$300 million in two installments in 2029 and 2030.

The deal all but cements the exit of Malaysia’s Petronas from Argentina after it also withdrew from a liquefied natural gas venture with state-run YPF SA. It’s also another sign that development in the Vaca Muerta will increasingly be spearheaded by homegrown drillers, rather than multinationals: Exxon Mobil Corp sold its Argentine shale oil portfolio last year and TotalEnergies SE is looking to do the same.

YPF, which owns the other 50 percent of La Amarga Chica, will continue as the operator.

Shareholders of Vista — founded by SLB board member Miguel Galuccio, who lured Petronas to the field a decade ago when he was running YPF — gave management the green light last month to pursue an acquisition and finance it with debt or a stock sale.

Vista is expanding at an uncertain time for the global oil industry as prices fall amid US President Donald Trump’s trade war.

Galuccio warned several weeks ago that management would consider budget cuts if the light Medanito crude produced in the Vaca Muerta, which closely tracks Brent, drops below US$55.

But there are also tailwinds for Argentine shale as President Javier Milei eased capital controls this week that have long suppressed growth and as pipeline build-outs take shape.

The deal will provide rapid growth for Vista. Before the acquisition, it had been targeting daily output of up to 100,000 barrels this year, an increase from 70,000 in 2024, through a plan to invest more than US$1 billion. With La Amarga Chica, it immediately gets a 40,000-barrel boost and it will need to ramp up its capital expenditures.