Argentina Opens 15 New Drilling Blocks in Vaca Muerta Shale

Argentina · Energy

The provincial oil company keeps a free stake in every block, and nobody gets in for less than US$500,000 in cash.

Vaca Muerta, Argentina’s giant shale basin in northern Patagonia, is about to get new tenants. Neuquén province has opened sealed bidding for 15 unconventional exploration blocks, and the envelopes are opened on Wednesday.

It is the biggest acreage auction the basin has seen since 2016.

What Neuquén Just Put on the Table

Neuquén is Argentina’s oil province, and it owns the rock. Its state company, Gas y Petróleo del Neuquén, holds acreage it cannot drill alone.

So it rents out the risk instead. The round, called Ronda 1/2026, offers 15 exploration blocks to any company willing to spend real money.

Governor Rolando Figueroa unveiled the plan in Houston in late March, at the CERAWeek energy conference. Since then the province has published the terms and set a single hard date.

The Fifteen Blocks and Where They Sit

The 15 areas are grouped into five clusters. They stretch from Añelo, in the busy heart of the play, out to the quiet edges of the basin.

Some sit north, near Rincón de los Sauces. Others sit south, near Cutral Có and Plaza Huincul, where drilling has been thin for years.

Their names read like a map of Patagonia. Corralera Sur, Curamhuele, Águila Mora Noreste, La Hoya, El Corte and Totoral Este are among them.

All 15 are unconventional, or “no convencional” in the tender’s language. Because of that, they target the Vaca Muerta shale itself, plus the Quintuco and Los Molles layers around it.

The Price of Entry

Nobody walks in free. Each bidder must put up a cash access bonus of at least US$500,000 per block, and that floor is not negotiable.

Royalties start at 15%. Bidders can offer up to three extra percentage points, so the ceiling is 18%.

Matching the rate Neuquén now charges on new shale concessions. Moreover, Gas y Petróleo del Neuquén keeps a carried stake of 10% to 20% in every block.

The province pays nothing while exploration lasts, since the winner carries the whole cost.

How the Bids Get Scored

The tender turns promises into points. Companies commit to “work units” worth US$5,000 each, counted per kilometre of seismic and per metre drilled, according to Argentine energy press.

Because acreage hoarding is the province’s old enemy, the scoring rewards drilling over sitting still. As a result, a bigger stake for the province, a higher royalty and a fatter bonus all lift a bid.

One block shows how fine the tuning gets. Pampa de las Yeguas Noreste covers just 52 square kilometres.

Yet it carries the highest bonus ceiling in the round at US$1 million.

Why Vaca Muerta Is Worth the Bet

Vaca Muerta is the largest commercially producing shale play outside North America. Rystad Energy puts its recoverable potential near 16 billion barrels of oil and 308 trillion cubic feet of gas.

The economics have caught up too. Rystad estimates well breakevens across the most prospective blocks at US$32 to US$49 a barrel.

Competitive with top US plays once land costs are counted. For example, the previous provincial round offered only six blocks.

This one offers fifteen, which is why analysts call it the basin’s biggest sale since 2016.

Who Is Circling the Round

About 15 companies had bought the tender documents by early August, the Neuquén outlet Minuto Neuquén reported. Still, buying the paperwork is not the same as bidding.

Named interest includes the US shale operators Continental Resources and Brigham Exploration, and Argentina’s TanGo Energy. However, the full field only becomes public when the envelopes are opened.

The Pipeline Problem Behind the Timing

Several of these blocks were never offered before, since there was no way to move their oil. That is changing quickly.

Vaca Muerta Oil Sur, a 437-kilometre line costing about US$3 billion, runs from Allen to Punta Colorada on the Atlantic. Early operation is planned for the third quarter of 2026 at 190,000 barrels a day.

After that it scales to 390,000 barrels a day during 2027, with a design capacity of 550,000. Meanwhile Oldelval’s Duplicar Norte line starts near 220,000 barrels a day late this year, heading toward 500,000 by March 2027.

Records Argentina Had Never Seen

Argentina pumped a record 887,227 barrels of oil a day in May 2026, up 19% on the year. June went higher again, near 915,000 barrels a day by one industry monitor.

Neuquén alone produced about 648,000 barrels a day in June, roughly 30% more than a year before. Its gas output also set records, topping 118 million cubic metres a day.

In short, one formation now carries the country. Vaca Muerta supplies roughly 68% of Argentina’s oil and 67% of its gas.

What It Means for the Money

Argentina’s energy trade surplus reached US$5.08 billion in the first half of 2026, up 61.7% from a year earlier. Energy exports came to US$6.59 billion, against US$1.52 billion of imports.

Those are dollars the country badly needs. Therefore every new block that finds oil is, eventually, hard currency in the central bank.

What Happens Next

Offers are due on Wednesday morning at 11am, and the envelopes are opened that afternoon at the company’s offices. Awards follow after the province scores each bid.

Winners then get up to eight years to explore, split into two four-year periods. If a discovery proves commercial, a 35-year unconventional production concession follows.

Not every block will draw an offer, and some may draw only one. Even so, the province will learn what the market really thinks its frontier rock is worth.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many blocks is Neuquén offering?

Fifteen. All are unconventional exploration blocks, grouped into five clusters across the province.

When does the bidding close?

Offers are due on August 19, 2026, at 11am local time. The envelopes are opened the same afternoon at 3pm.

What does it cost to enter?

At minimum, a US$500,000 cash bonus per block. Bidders also start from a 15% royalty and may offer up to 18%.

Are these shale blocks or conventional fields?

They are unconventional. The tender targets the Vaca Muerta shale plus the nearby Quintuco and Los Molles formations.

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