Argentina’s President Alberto Fernández, in a meeting with new energy secretary Darío Martínez last week, said the country needed to stimulate oil and gas production as a road to national economic development.

Argentina rig count

In the presidential residence in Olivos last Thursday, Fernández echoed what he said last year during campaigning. The energy sector was key to the creation of jobs, along with meeting national energy demand and reducing imports, according to a statement from the Economy Ministry. He also called for greater exports of energy to improve the country’s energy trade balance.

Argentina restarted seasonal natural gas exports to Chile in 2018 after a 10-year hiatus, and plans for large-scale natural gas exports via liquefied natural gas were in the works during the...