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Home / Sectors / Oil & Gas / 1

History of oil in Argentina

More than a century of oil: from the Comodoro Rivadavia discovery in 1907 to the first integrated state oil company in the Americas, the back-and-forth between the State and private companies, the decline of the 2000 and the record that came with Vaca Muerta.

1907oil is discovered in Comodoro Rivadavia while drilling for water
847 thousand bbl/d1998 record, which lasted 27 years
916 thousand bbl/din July 2026: all-time record. Projection for December: ~965 thousand
Argentina's oil production, 1907-2026 (thousand barrels per day, annual average)
Oil (data)2026 estimated

Source: IAPG (1907-2025). 2026: January-June Energy Secretariat (Chapter IV), July 916,200 bbl/d (official figure released by the press), August with official Vaca Muerta and estimated conventional, September-December projected using the trend of the last 12 months (Vaca Muerta +20% per year, conventional −10% per year). December 2026 projected: ~965 thousand barrels per day. The dots on the line are milestones: tap one to see the detail.

Timeline

Tap a milestone to see the detail.

DiscoveryProductionLaws and policiesCompanies
  1. Kerosene in JujuyFirst attempt to make use of the oil from the northern outcrops.See more →
  2. Cacheuta: the Cuyo Basin is bornCompañía Mendocina de Petróleo drills the first wells with industrial success.See more →
  3. Oil in Comodoro RivadaviaDrilling for water, a State borehole finds oil at about 540 meters. The Golfo San Jorge Basin is born.See more →
  4. Plaza Huincul: the Neuquén Basin is bornPlaza Huincul well No. 1 finds oil in Neuquén.See more →
  5. YPF is createdYacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales: one of the world's first integrated state oil companies. Mosconi, its director.See more →
  6. The Northwest: oil in SaltaStandard Oil explores and produces in Salta. The oil of the north pits Mosconi against the foreign companies.See more →
  7. YPF in Mendoza: TupungatoYPF arrives in Mendoza in 1932 and in 1938 well T-19 in Tupungato becomes one of the most productive in the country.See more →
  8. Tierra del Fuego and Santa Cruz: the Austral BasinGas and oil are found in the far south. The Austral Basin will be, above all, a gas basin.See more →
  9. Hydrocarbons, property of the NationThe 1949 Constitution declares the fields the inalienable property of the Nation.See more →
  10. The "battle for oil"Frondizi signs contracts with foreign companies to produce for YPF.See more →
  11. The first 100,000 barrels per dayAverage production exceeds 100,000 barrels per day for the first time.See more →
  12. Self-sufficiencyFor the first time in half a century, production is enough to cover consumption. It tripled in four years.See more →
  13. Hydrocarbons Law 17,319The law that still organizes the sector today: permits, concessions and royalties.See more →
  14. Loma La LataYPF discovers the field that shapes gas development in Argentina.See more →
  15. Deregulation and privatization of YPFFree prices, free availability of crude and YPF goes public.See more →
  16. Record: 847,000 barrels per dayProduction reaches its all-time high, which will hold for 27 years.See more →
  17. The declineWith mature fields and low domestic prices, production falls almost every year.See more →
  18. Expropriation of 51% of YPFLaw 26,741 expropriates Repsol's stake.See more →
  19. YPF and Chevron: Loma CampanaThe agreement that kicks off Vaca Muerta.See more →
  20. Vaca Muerta, more than halfVaca Muerta oil surpasses conventional.See more →
  21. Bases Law and RIGIThe Large Investment Incentive Regime is created.See more →
  22. New all-time recordProduction surpasses the 1998 record after 27 years.See more →
  23. On the way to a million barrelsAugust near 930,000 barrels per day. Projection: about 965,000 in December and a record average of about 912,000 for the year.See more →

What it means for a supplier

  • The mature fields of Comodoro Rivadavia, Mendoza and the north keep producing with secondary and tertiary recovery, and require well services, workover and maintenance.
  • The provinces own the resource: local content laws and supplier contracting laws weigh as much as national regulation.
  • With the new record, the bottleneck has become infrastructure (pipelines, plants, storage), which concentrates the demand for construction projects.

Fuentes

Updated as of October 9, 2026. Anything to correct or add? Write to us.