Chevron prepares Vaca Muerta investment plan valued over $10 billion
Chevron Corp. is preparing to submit a Vama Muerta investment plan worth more than $10 billion under Argentina’s Large Investment Incentive Regime (RIGI), a governmental framework designed to provide 20 years of fiscal, foreign-exchange, and regulatory stability for large-scale developments.
Economy Minister Luis Caputo confirmed the plan following a meeting in Los Angeles with Chevron executives during President Javier Milei’s visit to the US. Attendees included Eimear Bonner, Chevron’s chief financial officer; Laura Lane, the operator’s global head of corporate affairs; Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno, and Argentina’s ambassador to Washington, Alec Oxenford. Caputo said Chevron indicated it would submit the new project plan “in the coming days."
The core asset is expected to be El Trapial Este, in northern Neuquén within Vaca Muerta’s oil window. The area, near Rincón de los Sauces, was granted to Chevron Argentina in 2022 as a 35-year unconventional concession.
Together with El Trapial-Curamched, Chevron controls around 450 sq km.
Chevron partners with YPF at Loma Campana—Vaca Muerta’s first major industrial-scale project—and Narambuena. As operator of El Trapial Este, however, Chevron can structure the filing with greater control over development pace, well design, service contracting, and capital deployment.
The plan for the block, which has undergone evaluation with pilot wells and has moved into development, draws on lessons from the US Permian basin, shale type curves, and phased scale-up strategies.
Chevron Decree to RIGI
News of the project comes as Argentina’s Executive Branch moves to repeal Decree 929/2013, known as the “Chevron Decree.” That rule, created under the administration of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, enabled the original YPF-Chevron partnership to develop Loma Campana.
The government aims to concentrate incentives under RIGI and remove other systems. The old decree was designed for a time marked by foreign exchange restrictions, limited financing, and legal uncertainty. The new system aims to provide a broader framework with long-term stability, tax incentives, improved export conditions, and access to foreign currency.
Vista Energy is also advancing plans under RIGI. The operator is preparing to register its Águila Mora and Bandurria Norte blocks as it seeks to accelerate development timelines and improve returns on capital-intensive assets requiring regulatory continuity, infrastructure, and scale.
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About the Author
Camilo Ciruzzi
South America Correspondent
Ciruzzi is a journalist based in the Argentine province of Río Negro. He has over 30 years of experience in radio and print media. Ciruzzi studied Communication Sciences at the University of Buenos Aires and specialized in energy, political economy, and finance.