YPF sees output boost in 2025, focus on Vaca Muerta

Argentina's state oil firm YPF, opens new tab expects to increase shale oil production by 30% to 40% next year, the company's CEO Horacio Marin said.

Marin, on a call to discuss financial results, said YPF will focus its capital investments on its main shale assets, specifically within the massive Vaca Muerta formation.

"We expect to increase unconventional production from 30 to 40 percent, our incremental production will be in that range, that's why we can achieve our average of 160,000 barrels (per day) in the first quarter," Marin said, adding that the estimates could be conservative.

YPF reported that unconventional oil production rose by 36% to 126,000 barrels per day in the third quarter, compared to the same period in 2023, and was up 11% from the second quarter.

Increased activity in unconventional oil offset the drop in production of conventional oil and led YPF to reach a total average of 256,000 barrels per day.

YPF's natural gas production grew by 4% compared to the second quarter and 7.3% versus the year-ago quarter, mainly due to completion of the first stage of a gas pipeline that links Vaca Muerta with Buenos Aires.

The company reported a profit of $1.485 billion in the third quarter, boosted by increases in output and prices of oil and natural gas.