Changes to pricing, regulations key to boosting oil production in Argentina

Argentina's oil production has been on the rise this year, recovering from the demand and price impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. Oil output climbed to 492,000 b/d in February, up from 446,000 b/d in May. While that was still down from 520,000 b/d in March 2020, market watchers appear confident that production will fully recover by the end of 2021. Argentina's current administration has been keen on boosting production, primarily from the Vaca Muerta shale play, which is said to hold roughly 1 billion barrels of oil -- but unlocking those reserves will require changes to Argentina's regulatory and tax environment, and a shift to transparent oil prices. We talked with Maria Garcia, S&P Global Platts senior editor for Latin American crude, and Charles Newberry, Platts' Argentina correspondent, about what's happening.