
If the Argentine government does not manage to stabilize its energy balance, which is one of the main drains of US dollars, the ban on hard currency purchases, the barriers to imports and the growing obstacles to spend money overseas for Argentine travellers will continue and could worsen, according to Buenos Aires analysts.

The Economist in its latest printed edition addresses Argentina’s challenges in the energy field including the seizure of a majority stake in YPF from Spain’s Repsol and the latest agreement with US oil company Chevron to exploit shale oil and gas.

Spanish oil company Repsol asked the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) to take provisional measures to prevent YPF state-owned oil company to execute the deal it sealed with Chevron last year to explore for unconventional hydrocarbons in the Vaca Muerta shale formation.

Chevron, the world’s second-biggest oil company signed the first agreement with Argentina’s government since it nationalized YPF in 2012 to help develop shale oil and natural gas in the Vaca Muerta basin of the Patagonian province of Neuquen.

Argentina will offer energy companies incentives if they invest 1 billion dollars or more over a five-year period as the country struggles to lift output and pare fuel imports a year after seizing a majority stake at YPF from Spain’s Repsol.

Argentina’s nationalized oil company YPF signed on Wednesday an agreement with US oil major Chevron Corp to define the terms and conditions of Chevron's investment of 1.5 billion dollars in the vast Vaca Muerta shale field.

Brazil’s oil and gas Petrobras said Argentina needs clear rules to foster investments if it wants to develop its unconventional oil and gas resources.

Argentina’s nationalized energy company YPF on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding with the local subsidiary of the US Dow Chemical to develop the shale gas deposits in the southern Nequen province.

Argentina’s energy self-sufficiency can be expected in five to six years said Miguel Galuccio, CEO of YPF, the oil and gas corporation which was nationalized a year ago when the government of President Cristina Fernandez seized a 51% majority from Spain’s Repsol.

Argentina’s nationalized oil and gas company YPF announced on Friday that Pan American Energy, PAE, would be investing 3.4bn dollars in gas production in the next five years while Bridas, belonging to the Bulgheroni brothers said it plans to invest 1.5bn dollars in the development of the non conventional shale deposits in Vaca Muerta.