Investment Dies in Argentina's Vaca Muerta

摘要

Crashing commodity prices and the demand-draining impact of Covid-19 could prove the final straw for further investment in Argentina's Vaca Muerta,one of the world's biggest shale gas plays-for now,at least.State-controlled YPF,which dominates the shale patch,and private firms had already slashed drilling there last year after the government imposed price and foreign-exchange controls,and annual production has been trending down.With low oil and gas prices now making it harder for Argentina to repay foreign debt,companies will be even less keen to make big investments as the risk of default grows,particularly with their own budgets shrinking.