Argentina Approves a US$6.4 Billion Vaca Muerta Project in a Single Day of Deals
Argentina · Energy
Key Facts
- The approval Argentina cleared a US$6.4 billion RIGI project for Los Toldos II Este in Vaca Muerta on 19 August.
- Who is building it Tecpetrol, the oil arm of the Techint group chaired by Paolo Rocca. Economy Minister Luis Caputo confirmed the approval.
- The same day, in San Juan The legislature ratified by 27 to 9 an agreement under which Vicuña S.A. advances the province US$250 million.
- Who is behind Vicuña Vicuña Corp is a joint venture of BHP and Lundin Mining, run by chief executive Ron Hochstein.
- Already in the regime Vicuña’s Argentine vehicle entered RIGI in late July, authorising an initial investment of up to US$9.7 billion for the first two of three phases.
- What RIGI is A package of tax, customs and currency guarantees for investments above US$200 million, with stability running thirty years or more depending on category.
- The running total Caputo put committed RIGI investment near US$49 billion at the end of July; the ministry’s published resolutions totalled US$46.7 billion in mid-August.
One Wednesday, two provinces, and a tax regime that is quietly rewiring where the money goes.
The Vaca Muerta RIGI file had a busy Wednesday. In Buenos Aires the government approved a US$6.4 billion oil development in Vaca Muerta for Tecpetrol. Nine hundred kilometres north, the San Juan legislature ratified a US$250 million agreement with a copper venture owned by two of the world’s biggest miners. Neither is a headline on its own. Together they show what the regime is actually for.
The Vaca Muerta RIGI approval
The project is Los Toldos II Este, operated by Tecpetrol, the oil and gas company of the Techint group chaired by Paolo Rocca. At US$6.4 billion it is among the largest private oil developments approved under the regime, and Economy Minister Luis Caputo confirmed the decision on 19 August.
Los Toldos II Este sits in the northern part of the Vaca Muerta formation in Neuquén province, an area that has moved from appraisal to development over the past two years as pipeline capacity has caught up with drilling.
That last point is the one worth holding on to. Argentina’s shale problem was never geology. It was that the oil could not get out. Every pipeline announcement of the past eighteen months is what makes an approval of this size rational rather than speculative.
What RIGI actually does
RIGI is the Régimen de Incentivo para Grandes Inversiones, created under Milei’s reform package. For qualifying investments above US$200 million it offers long-run stability — thirty years as standard, and forty for some categories, including the one Vicuña sits in: a reduced corporate tax rate, accelerated depreciation, relief from export duties after a set period, easier access to foreign exchange, and protection from future tax changes.
It exists because of a specific Argentine problem. Capital does not avoid Argentina because the assets are poor. It avoids Argentina because the rules change. RIGI is an attempt to buy credibility by writing the rules down and freezing them for three decades or more.
Whether that holds is the open question, and no one will know for years. What can be measured is uptake, and uptake has been substantial: approved RIGI investment approached US$49 billion by the end of July on Caputo’s count, though the economy ministry’s published-resolution total stood at US$46.7 billion across 21 projects in mid-August.
San Juan and the copper side
On the same day, the San Juan legislature ratified by 27 votes to 9 an agreement with Vicuña S.A. under which the company advances US$250 million to the province, publicly backed by Governor Marcelo Orrego. The deal was struck on 6 August.
Vicuña Corp is a joint venture between BHP and Lundin Mining, led by chief executive Ron Hochstein, developing copper in the high Andes on the San Juan side. Its Argentine vehicle entered RIGI at the end of July, which authorises an initial investment of up to US$9.7 billion covering the first two of three phases. Full development could reach US$18 billion.
The two figures are not competing versions of the same thing. The US$9.7 billion is the investment authorised under the national regime; the US$250 million is an advance payment to the province, ratified locally by 27 votes to 9, to build infrastructure before production starts. Argentine mining runs on both layers, and a project needs the province as much as it needs Buenos Aires.
Why this matters if you live in Latin America
For anyone earning or investing in the region, Argentina’s energy and copper build-out is the largest single change to the macroeconomic picture this decade. Oil exports change the current account, and a country with dollars behaves differently from one without.
It also reorders the map. Neuquén and San Juan are not where Argentine wealth has historically sat, and the pull of both projects on wages, housing and services in those provinces is already visible to anyone who has tried to rent in Añelo.
The caution is the obvious one. Thirty-year guarantees are worth what the next government says they are worth, and Argentina has changed its mind before. The regime’s real test is not how much investment it approves. It is whether a future administration leaves the terms alone.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was approved under Vaca Muerta RIGI on 19 August?
Argentina’s government approved a US$6.4 billion project for Los Toldos II Este in Vaca Muerta, operated by Tecpetrol, the oil arm of the Techint group chaired by Paolo Rocca. Economy Minister Luis Caputo confirmed the approval.
What is RIGI?
The Régimen de Incentivo para Grandes Inversiones, a regime for investments above US$200 million. It offers a thirty-year package including a reduced corporate tax rate, accelerated depreciation, relief from export duties after a set period, easier foreign-exchange access and protection from future tax changes. Approved investment under it approached US$49 billion by the end of July.
What did San Juan approve?
On 19 August the San Juan legislature ratified a US$250 million provincial agreement with Vicuña S.A., backed by Governor Marcelo Orrego. Vicuña Corp is a joint venture of BHP and Lundin Mining led by Ron Hochstein; its Argentine vehicle entered RIGI in late July, authorising an initial investment of up to US$9.7 billion for the first two of three phases.
Are the US$250 million and US$9.7 billion the same money?
No. The US$9.7 billion is the initial investment authorised under the national RIGI regime, covering the first two of three phases. The US$250 million is a separate advance payment to the province, agreed on 6 August and ratified by San Juan’s legislature on 19 August by 27 votes to 9, to fund provincial infrastructure ahead of production. Argentine mining projects need approval at both levels.
Connected Coverage
Argentina Opens 15 New Drilling Blocks in Vaca Muerta Shale
Argentina RIGI Investment Tops US$49 Billion on Pampa, MEGA Approvals
Argentina Ships First Offshore Pipes for the Vaca Muerta Oil Pipeline
Sources: Infobae — the government approves a US$6.4 billion RIGI for Paolo Rocca’s oil company; Reuters via TradingView — Argentina approves US$6.4 billion RIGI investment for Tecpetrol; Ámbito — the San Juan legislature approves the US$250 million Vicuña mining agreement
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