Eni and YPF, the oil company owned by the Argentine state, have signed an agreement agreement worth approximately 25 billion for produce and export liquefied natural gas from the Vaca Muerta deposit. The project sees Eni as a strategic partner of YPF across the entire value chain of the project up to the export of LNG through two floating units capable of producing 12 million tonnes per year.
Claudio Descalzi, CEO of the Italian giant, and Horacio Marin, president and CEO of the counterparty, signed the final technical phase of the project in Buenos Aires, the last step before the final investment decision, expected in the first six months of 2026. The agreement concerns 12 of the 30 million tons per year of liquid gas planned by Argentina LNG and includes the development, transportation, liquefaction, and subsequent export of the gas produced from the Patagonian Vaca Muerta field, the second largest unconventional reserve in the world.
Descalzi: "A significant source of supply for international markets."
Descalzi said he was “proud to be able to contribute to the development of the Argentina Lng project” underlining that “it represents a significant source of supply for international markets“. For Marin, “the agreement represents a decisive step for the Argentina's energy transformation. Together with Eni – which we chose for its solid experience in liquefied gas – we have set up a project that will not only boost our exports, but will also place theArgentina as a major player in the global LNG market".
The goal is to reach the market by 2029
Eni can already start call for the first tenders and thus define the overall investment figure more precisely. The goal is to reach the market by 2029"The first meeting with President Javier Milei was this summer in Rome. In just a few months, we've already reached the technical FID, while it usually takes a couple of years," Descalzi said after the signing. "This shows that our team and YPF are in tune; it shows that we speak the same language when it comes to achieving goals and that we can move quickly." On the one hand, Eni is offering its expertise, gained from the Floating LNG projects in Congo and Mozambique, while on the other, YPF is contributing its experience in site management.
Descalzi took advantage of the meeting with the Argentine president to discuss the group's projects and possible future initiatives in the country, which is a veritable goldmine of methane, which appears destined to remain central for some time to come, despite the arrival of renewables, while LNG satisfies Europe's needs to replace flows coming from Russia.
