YPF reinvents itself

Under a new Argentine president and company CEO, YPF has shed dozens of non-core assets as it doubles down on the Vaca Muerta shale and LNG

Argentina’s YPF has undergone sweeping reforms aligned with President Javier Milei’s push to deregulate and liberalise an economy long mired in crisis. Since Milei took office in December 2023, the NOC has sold dozens of mature fields to transform itself from a sprawling operator across all the country’s five basins into a leaner player centred on the vast Vaca Muerta shale. Backed by a new investment regime, YPF is also advancing Argentina’s long-held ambition to become a major global LNG exporter. Under CEO Horacio Marin—appointed by Milei after a 35-year career at one of Argentina’s leading private producers Techpetrol—YPF has undergone a cultural transformation, Max Westen, vice-presiden