Vista eyes Milei reforms in bid to double Argentina shale output

Vista Energy SAB, one of the top drillers in Argentina’s burgeoning shale patch, sees another round of reforms from Javier Milei as a trampoline to growth after the libertarian president notched a decisive win in midterm elections.

“Part of gaining competitiveness is economies of scale,” Chief Executive Officer Miguel Galuccio told analysts at an investor event in Buenos Aires, citing Argentina’s rig count, which is more than 10 times lower than in the United States. “But another comes from regulations and taxes there’s a lot of discussion going on around that.”

Galuccio mentioned cutting taxes on exports as an area being explored in talks between the oil industry and Milei’s administration. Vista is also expecting the president to pursue reforms of Argentine labour laws, which are highly restrictive for employers, in Congress this year.

“Anything we can do to become more competitive will translate to more production, exports and proceeds for the country,” Galuccio said. “It’s a win-win.”

At the event – which outlined Vista’s plan for the next five years – executives said they were aiming to surpass the equivalent of 200,000 barrels of oil a day in 2030, almost doubling this year’s output of 114,000.

Other highlights from the event:

– Vista’s plan stands up with Brent prices as low as US$60
– Galuccio sees demand growth in poorer countries helping keep prices at about US$70 in coming years
– Current oil pipeline expansions will be enough to accommodate aggressive production growth for Vista
– Annual capex is seen at about US$1.5 billion over the next three years
– Acquisitions of more oil fields aren’t required to meet targets
– “We don’t have the imperative for M&A,” Chief Financial Officer Pablo Vera Pinto said. “We don’t need more scale for the sake of it”