Argentina Seeks Up to US$7 Billion in US Financing for Vaca Muerta LNG Exports
ARGENTINA · BUSINESS
Key Facts
- The country. Argentina has 46 million people and has been governed by President Javier Milei since 10 December 2023. Grain, beef, lithium and shale oil and gas are its main export earners.
- The money. The peso trades near 1,515 to the US dollar at the official rate and about 1,535 on the parallel blue market. The country needs export dollars, which is what gas is meant to deliver.
- Who is lending, in plain words. EXIM is the US Export-Import Bank, an export credit agency: it lends, guarantees and insures so foreign buyers can pay for American equipment and services. Argentina LNG is a project of YPF, Italy’s Eni and the Emirati firm XRG.
- What happens on Wednesday. Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno and US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau present the package at Argentina’s New York consulate on 23 September 2026. La Nación reported the start as 7pm New York time.
- Two numbers, one gap. Reuters, citing a document it saw, reports an EXIM ceiling of up to US$7 billion over two years. Argentine outlets put about US$6 billion on Argentina LNG alone. Whether one sits inside the other is unconfirmed.
- What it means for you. If you hold YPF shares or Argentine sovereign debt, this is the most direct read-across. The gas would come from Vaca Muerta shale in Neuquén and be liquefied on two floating units in the San Matías Gulf.
- The catch. Argentina’s Congress has still not ratified the trade and investment agreement signed with Washington in February 2026, and officials say they lack the votes. No final text, split or drawdown schedule is public.
Officials meet in New York on Wednesday to back Vaca Muerta gas exports with US export credit, and two headline numbers are circulating.
Argentina and the United States are due to announce an Argentina LNG financing package in New York on Wednesday 23 September 2026. Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno and US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau are expected to present it.
What the Two Sides Will Announce in New York
Argentina and the United States are due to sign an investment accord at Argentina’s consulate in New York. The event falls on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
Pablo Quirno has been Argentina’s foreign minister since October 2025 and leads the Argentine side. Christopher Landau, the US deputy secretary of state, represents Washington.
The package covers energy, critical minerals and export infrastructure. It leans on US export credit and private investors rather than direct sovereign lending.
La Nación reported that the announcement was set for 7pm New York time. President Javier Milei is in the city for the General Assembly.
Why One Number Says US$6 Billion and Another Says US$7 Billion
The two figures are not rival versions of the same number. They measure different things.
Reuters reported, citing a document it saw, that the US Export-Import Bank plans up to US$7 billion. That ceiling covers critical-minerals and energy projects in Argentina over the next two years.
Argentine outlets including Infobae and Ámbito put about US$6 billion against one project, Argentina LNG. Whether that US$6 billion sits inside the US$7 billion has not been confirmed.
EXIM money is export credit, not a cash transfer. It lends or guarantees so that foreign buyers can pay for American equipment and services.
The instruments described are loans, guarantees and insurance, alongside private capital. The structure also contemplates the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC).
Argentina LNG Financing and the Vaca Muerta Export Plan
Argentina LNG is the project at the centre of the gas side. YPF holds 36 percent, with Italy’s Eni and the Emirati firm XRG on 32 percent each.
The partners applied under RIGI, Argentina’s incentive regime for large investments, citing about US$51 billion over the project’s life. La Nación reported that about US$29 billion of that falls before 2031.
The design uses two floating liquefaction units in the San Matías Gulf, off Río Negro province. Combined capacity is about 12 million tonnes a year, with room to reach 18 million.
Vaca Muerta is the shale formation in Neuquén province that would supply the gas. Argentina wants to turn that output into hard-currency export revenue.
YPF chief executive Horacio Marín said on 18 September that the company was deep in talks with export credit agencies. He named Europe, Asia and the United States.
The Congress Problem Behind the Deal
In February 2026 Washington and Buenos Aires signed an agreement on reciprocal trade and investment. Argentina’s Congress has still not ratified it.
Ambassador Jamieson Greer signed for the United States, the trade representative’s office said. That accord is the wider frame around this week’s financing step.
La Nación reported that Argentine officials say they do not yet have the votes. That keeps part of the wider framework open rather than settled.
Ratification is separate from the export credit itself. It still shapes how durable the commercial opening looks to lenders.
What This Means for Expats and Investors in Latin America
For people living in or invested in Latin America, the signal matters as much as the number. A US agency lending against Argentine energy risk lowers the perceived cost of these projects.
RIGI grants tax, customs and currency benefits to very large projects for long periods. It is the frame most new Argentine energy and mining money now uses.
That can pull private money in behind it, from bank syndicates to bond buyers. Holders of YPF shares or Argentine sovereign debt are the most direct audience.
Rio Tinto in lithium, BHP in copper and Chevron in shale already operate in Argentina. Readers in Brazil, Chile or Colombia may see similar export-credit structures appear closer to home.
EXIM reopened financing for Argentina in February 2026, according to the trade outlet Shale24. That reopening is what makes an envelope of this size possible.
What Is Still Not Known
Neither government has published the final text of the accord. The figures in circulation come from official briefings and from a document Reuters reported seeing.
The final signed amount is not known, nor the split between EXIM, the DFC and private lenders. No drawdown schedule has been published.
It is also unclear which projects would draw funds first. Argentina LNG is the named example, not a confirmed first borrower.
Long-term sales contracts are the other gate for a project of this size. YPF has said it is close to signing some, without naming final terms.
Official texts from EXIM and the two governments would settle the amounts and the instruments. Until then, Wednesday reads as an early marker on a long road for Argentine gas.
More: Argentina news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this a US Treasury swap line?
No. The Argentina LNG financing package uses export credit, guarantees and insurance from US agencies, together with private investors.
Is the amount US$6 billion or US$7 billion?
Both appear. EXIM’s ceiling is up to US$7 billion for minerals and energy, while about US$6 billion is tied to Argentina LNG.
Has Argentina’s Congress approved the wider deal?
Not yet. The reciprocal trade and investment agreement signed in February 2026 is still awaiting ratification in Buenos Aires.
Sources: Reuters, 22 September 2026, citing a document seen by its reporters; Infobae; Ámbito Financiero; La Nación; Shale24; Office of the United States Trade Representative; US Department of State.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated AI newsroom. Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief. The Rio Times also runs Ask Rio Times, which answers from 100,000+ of our own articles, the daily Latin America Power Map, and prediction-market odds on elections and markets.. How we use AI · Report an error