The sector in numbers

Oil production

Vaca Muerta grows month by month and already accounts for most of the country's oil; conventional production (Golfo San Jorge, conventional Neuquén, Cuyo, Austral, Northwest) falls a little every month.

Natural gas production

Gas demand is highly seasonal: in winter, home heating almost doubles consumption. That is why production rises from May to August and falls in spring and summer. Vaca Muerta, with the gas associated with oil wells and gas blocks like Fortín de Piedra, La Calera or Aguada Pichana, offsets the decline of conventional fields and tight gas.

Millions of m³ per day; change versus the same month of the previous year.

Wells

All the oil and gas wells drilled in Argentina must be reported to the Energy Secretariat (Chapter IV registry): from the first wells of the early 20th century to the horizontal wells of Vaca Muerta. How many there are, what state they are in and how much each universe produces.

The three universes: how many wells and how much each one produces

Production for June of 2026. A Vaca Muerta well produces on average about 19 times more oil than a conventional one.

Vaca Muerta: wells being connected

A well is connected when, once completed (drilled and fractured), it is tied in to the surface facilities and begins to produce. It is the best thermometer of activity: every new well is work for drilling rigs, frac fleets, sand, pipe, facilities and services. Today there are 2,890 Vaca Muerta wells in production.

Why are gas wells connected before winter?

Gas demand in Argentina is markedly seasonal, because residential consumption (heating) weighs heavily. Operators aggressively connect gas wells between February and June, so that their production arrives in time to cover the winter demand peak. Once winter is over there is surplus gas and no market for the output of a new well, so very few are connected.

Percentage of the wells connected in the year that start producing in each month. Average 2021–2025 (excluding 2020, the pandemic year). Gas and oil wells as reported by each operator.

Fracturas

For an unconventional well to produce it must be fractured: water with sand is pumped at very high pressure to open fissures in the rock. The horizontal lateral is fractured in sections, the stages. Frac stages are the most widely used measure of activity in Vaca Muerta: each one mobilizes frac fleets, sand, water, chemicals, trucks and services.

Vaca Muerta by operator

Vaca Muerta wells in production in August of 2026 and wells connected in the last 3, 6 and 12 months (through August 2026). Tap a header to sort.

Vaca Muerta by area

Diesel price

Grade 3 Diesel (Infinia Diesel, V-Power Diesel, Quantium Diesel and equivalents): the low-sulfur diesel used by pickups, trucks and modern equipment with Euro V or higher engines. Pump price, in pesos per liter, as reported by each service station to the Energy Secretariat.

Sources and how we calculate it

• Country's total production: monthly production reports by operator and area from IAPG (Argentine Petroleum and Gas Institute), which come from the same sworn statement that operators file with the Energy Secretariat. 22 months that IAPG did not publish or that came with an obvious error (Mar 2009, Aug 2010, Feb 2011, Aug 2012, Sep 2012, Oct 2012, Dec 2013, Nov 2016, Feb 2017, May 2017, Jun 2017, Jul 2017, Aug 2017, Sep 2017, Oct 2017, Nov 2017, Dec 2017, Jan 2018, Feb 2018, Dec 2018, Aug 2021, Nov 2022) were estimated from the neighboring months.
• Vaca Muerta and other unconventionals: well-by-well production published by the Energy Secretariat (Chapter IV, unconventional resources), since 2006. Vaca Muerta = wells whose declared producing formation is Vaca Muerta; other unconventionals = the rest of the shale and tight wells (mostly tight gas from Lajas, Mulichinco, Los Molles, Magallanes, Punta Rosada).
• Conventional: total production minus unconventional. The Secretariat also reports as oil the condensate from gas wells, which IAPG counts separately; for that reason conventional oil may come out a few thousand barrels per day below the real figure.
• Producing well: a well that reported oil or gas production greater than zero in the month. Connected well: the first month in which the well reports production. Operator = the one that reports the well in that month.
• Well registry: Energy Secretariat Chapter IV registry (85,611 wells, with their current status). Active conventional wells are those listed as in effective extraction.
• Fracturing: hydrocarbon well fracturing data (Annex IV) from the Energy Secretariat: per well, number of stages, horizontal lateral length, domestic and imported sand, water, pressure, horsepower and fracturing dates, as reported by each company. Preliminary data subject to revision (loaded as of 02/10/2026; 4,904 fracturing jobs in 4,678 wells). Fracturing of conventional wells has hardly been reported since 2024, so the total of recent years is basically unconventional.
• Diesel price: sale prices that each service station reports every month to the Energy Secretariat (Resolution S.E. 1104/2004), 3,769 stations with Grade 3 Diesel in August of 2026. We take the median pump price of the "Retail" channel for each month (half the stations charge more and the other half less), and we leave out prices below half or above double the month's median, which are data-entry errors. For the other channels we use the price with taxes.
• Energy Secretariat data through August 2026; the latest month may change if an operator reports late. Public data processed by faufena: it may contain errors.

More information: Energy Secretariat open data ↗ · IAPG ↗ · Fracstages: frac stages month by month ↗ · Service station prices (Res. 1104) ↗