Energy: Brazil
PPSA, the Brazilian state company that sells the federal government’s gas, signed a memorandum to study imports from Argentina’s Neuquén province, but no volumes, prices or route have been set.
PPSA (Pré-Sal Petróleo S.A.), the Brazilian state company that sells the federal government’s share of pre-salt oil and gas (fields offshore beneath a layer of salt), announced on 10 November 2026 that it signed a memorandum of understanding with Gas y Petróleo del Neuquén (GyP), the provincial state company of Argentina’s Neuquén province. The two will exchange information to study whether gas from Vaca Muerta, Argentina’s main shale oil and gas formation, can supply Brazilian buyers.
The announcement describes studies, not purchases. No volumes, prices or pipeline route have been announced.
Key Facts
—Parties. PPSA of Brazil and Gas y Petróleo del Neuquén (GyP), the Neuquén provincial state company.
—Purpose. Exchange information for feasibility studies on supplying Vaca Muerta gas to the Brazilian market.
—Rule. A 2026 Brazilian energy-council resolution lets other suppliers join PPSA gas auctions, with supply from 2030.
—Context. PPSA’s first federal gas auction in October sold all 1.1 million cubic metres a day offered.
—Unknown. No volumes, prices or pipeline route have been announced.
What PPSA Signed
PPSA says the memorandum was signed during a meeting with executives of both companies in Argentina. It sets up an exchange of information so the two can study whether supplying gas from the region to Brazil is viable.
“Vaca Muerta is one of the great oil and natural gas producing provinces in the world,” said Luis Fernando Paroli, PPSA’s chief executive, in a statement. He said the rapprochement matters because PPSA is studying every alternative that could widen gas supply and make Brazilian industry more competitive.
Why Brazil Is Looking West
PPSA points to Resolution 15/2026 of Brazil’s National Energy Policy Council (CNPE), which allows gas from other geographies to take part in PPSA auctions with supply from 2030. PPSA says the aim is more gas for new industrial projects and for expansion of existing ones.
In October PPSA held the first auction of the Union’s (Brazil’s federal government’s) natural gas and sold the whole 1.1 million cubic metres a day on offer to five heavy industry sectors, with 36 qualified bidders, of which 32 took part. It plans another auction in 2027 with 1.8 million cubic metres a day.
What Is Still Missing
Argentina’s economy minister and Brazil’s energy minister signed an earlier memorandum in November 2024 to study export infrastructure from Vaca Muerta. The new PPSA announcement sets no price, volume or pipeline route.
PPSA has not said whether the studies could lead to binding contracts. See our earlier coverage of Vaca Muerta investment and of Vaca Muerta exports.
What It Means for Buyers and Producers
For Brazilian industrial buyers, PPSA presents the memorandum as part of its search for alternatives to widen gas supply. For GyP and Neuquén, it creates a channel to a possible customer in Brazil.
Readers outside the region should treat it as an early step. The next dated checkpoints are PPSA’s 2027 auction and the 2030 start of supply that Resolution 15/2026 allows.
What Is Not Known
The memorandum’s text has not been published, so its duration, any exclusivity and who pays for the studies are open. Neither company has said which route gas would take into Brazil or what it would cost.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Vaca Muerta?
It is a large shale oil and gas formation, mostly in Argentina’s Neuquén province, and Argentina’s main source of new gas output. PPSA’s chief executive calls it one of the world’s major producing provinces.
What is PPSA?
Pré-Sal Petróleo S.A. is a Brazilian state-owned company that manages production-sharing contracts and sells the federal government’s share of pre-salt oil and gas. In October 2026 it ran Brazil’s first auction of that gas.
Sources: PPSA (ppsa.gov.br), statement of 10 November 2026 on the memorandum with Gas y Petróleo del Neuquén, including the statement by Luis Fernando Paroli; National Energy Policy Council (CNPE), Resolution 15/2026.
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