Argentina RIGI: Pan American Energy Files US$1.2 Billion Bid to Revive Old Oilfield
ECONOMY · ARGENTINA
Key Facts
- —The country Argentina offers tax, customs and currency benefits to projects above US$200 million under the RIGI, the large-investment incentive regime created by the 2024 Ley Bases reform.
- —What happened On 1 October 2026, at Argentina Week in Paris, Pan American Energy filed a US$1.2 billion RIGI bid. Eramet said it will apply for a US$350 million lithium expansion (Ámbito, El Cronista).
- —The numbers PAE plans 100 new wells and work on 600 existing ones at Cerro Dragón, Chubut. Eramet aims to lift Salta output from 24,000 to 35,000 tonnes a year.
- —What it means for you Neither project is approved. If both go ahead, they would add oil and lithium exports, the dollar earnings Argentina’s economy depends on.
- —Still open When the government rules on PAE’s filing, and whether Eramet commits. El Cronista reported on 1 October that its final investment decision is expected in late 2027.
Two companies brought new projects to the Argentina RIGI, the country’s large-investment incentive regime, on Thursday 1 October. Pan American Energy filed a US$1.2 billion plan to draw more oil from Cerro Dragón, its ageing field in Chubut province.
French miner Eramet said it will apply to the Argentina RIGI to expand its lithium plant in Salta by US$350 million. Both announcements came at Argentina Week in Paris, and neither project has yet been approved.
What Pan American Energy Filed
Pan American Energy (PAE) operates Cerro Dragón in the Golfo San Jorge basin, a mature conventional oil area in southern Argentina. Ámbito and La Nación both reported that the company submitted its RIGI application on 1 October.
The plan covers 100 new producer and injector wells, work on 600 existing wells and 22 polymer injection plants. Polymer injection is a tertiary recovery method that pushes extra oil out of old reservoirs.
PAE expects 46 million additional barrels of oil and 30 billion cubic feet of gas, Ámbito reported. Output would peak at more than 16,600 extra barrels a day, with 18 million barrels set aside for export.
The bid has grown since spring. On 28 May El Cronista reported a US$680 million version, with 24 million extra barrels and a peak gain of 11,300 barrels a day.
Chief executive Marcos Bulgheroni said PAE is seeking “new investment horizons” at Cerro Dragón to make the basin more sustainable, La Nación reported. Economy Minister Luis Caputo called it an “inversión brutal”, a huge investment, according to El Cronista.
Eramet’s Lithium Expansion in Salta
Eramet, a French mining group, runs the Centenario-Ratones lithium operation on the Puna plateau in Salta, about 3,800 metres above sea level. Chief executive Christel Bories announced the plan in Paris after meeting President Javier Milei, El Cronista reported.
The US$350 million expansion would raise capacity from 24,000 to 35,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate a year. Infobae reported the same 11,000-tonne increase.
El Cronista said a final investment decision is expected in late 2027, after prefeasibility studies finished in July 2026. Eramet has invested about US$950 million in the project so far, the paper added.
The plant opened in July 2024 and reached 90 percent of nominal capacity in June 2026. Eramet agreed in 2024 to buy out its Chinese partner Tsingshan and now owns the project outright.
Where the Argentina RIGI Stands
The RIGI grants stable tax, customs and currency rules to projects worth more than US$200 million. Milei’s government created it through the 2024 Ley Bases reform law.
By late August, mining projects worth US$39 billion had been presented, the mining chamber CAEM told the Senate. Twelve of them, worth US$21 billion, were approved, as reported in Argentina’s Mining Pipeline Under the RIGI Incentive Tops US$39.0 Billion.
Approvals continue. In June the government cleared a US$208 million lithium expansion by South Korea’s Posco in the Salar del Hombre Muerto, El Cronista reported.
The two bids came during the same Paris programme covered in Argentina Week Paris Summit: Milei Team Meets 12 Governors on 2027 Budget. Officials used the event to court European investors.
Why It Matters, and the Risks
Conventional fields such as Cerro Dragón decline naturally without fresh spending, which puts provincial royalties and jobs at risk. Tertiary recovery is meant to slow that decline and keep Chubut’s oil industry active.
Lithium prices and financing will shape Eramet’s decision as much as tax rules do. Presented money is not spent money until permits, funding and construction are in place.
What Is Not Yet Known
The government has not said when it will rule on PAE’s application. The reports opened did not give a construction timetable for the US$1.2 billion programme.
Eramet has not yet filed, and its board decision is more than a year away. Infobae described the PAE project in approval terms, but Ámbito and La Nación reported a filing.
Sources: Ámbito (1 Oct 2026); La Nación (1 Oct 2026); El Cronista (PAE and Eramet, 1 Oct 2026; 28 May 2026; 4 Jun 2026); Infobae (1 Oct 2026); Argentine Chamber of Mining Companies (CAEM) Senate testimony (August 2026).
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