Thanks to Milei, Argentina Is Already the Third Largest Oil Producer in South America

According to the final data for 2024, Argentina's oil productionsurpassed Colombia's, stripping the country of its third place as the largest crude producer in South America, leaving it only behind Brazil and Venezuela. This is something that many had anticipated over the past few months, and it finally materialized.

According to official data, in December 2024, Argentina reached a production of 765,600 barrels per day, while Colombia produced 755,469 barrels.

The Ministry of Economy of Argentina indicated that this figure represented an 11.5% increase compared to the previous month. Meanwhile, the National Hydrocarbons Agency of Colombia reported a production of 755,469 barrels in the last month of the past year.

This news comes in a context of strong investments in this sector, driven by the Incentive Regime for Large Investments (RIGI), created by the government of Javier Milei.

"In 2024, Argentina's hydrocarbon production reached levels not seen in over 15 years. In oil, the country reached 256,268,454 barrels, its highest production since 2003," stated the Ministry of Economy in a communiqué.

The Vaca Muerta field, Argentina's largest unconventional hydrocarbon reserve, was key in this remarkable increase. "A large part of these results is due to the growing development of unconventional resources in the country. In fact, Vaca Muerta's production accounted for 54.9% of the national oil production and 50.1% of the gas. In December, Vaca Muerta alone produced 446,900 barrels of crude per day, which implied a year-on-year increase of 26.9%," highlighted the government of Javier Milei.

In Colombia, the situation is different. Thanks to the measures adopted by the communist president Gustavo Petro of not signing new exploration and exploitation contracts for oil and gas, there was a significant negative impact on the sector, which experienced a considerable decline in 2024.

Additionally, the Colombian Chamber of Oil, Gas, and Energy Goods and Services (Campetrol) had warned about the adverse effects of the "surtax on income tax, blockades in producing regions, and regulatory uncertainty".

The tax burden imposed by the Colombian government, which includes additional taxes of up to 15% on crude production, caused pressure on a sector that was already facing operational complications.