Argentina’s state oil company Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales SA (YPF)  plans to spend $1.5 billion to boost oil and gas production this year in Neuquén province, home to the giant Vaca Muerta formation.

Vaca Muerta

YPF “has come out to announce its big effort to all Argentines, an investment that will translate into an important increase in oil and gas production that is going to boost growth in our country,” Chairman Pablo González said Friday.

The company is looking to increase the province’s crude production by 56% and unconventional natural gas production by 70% this year, the executive said.

YPF, like all operators in Argentina, had a difficult 2020, and saw overall production fall by 9% to 467,000 boe/d.

Capital expenditure (capex) fell last year by 56%, hitting...