The YPF LNG Contracts Are Close to Signature. Nothing Has Been Signed Yet.
ARGENTINA · ENERGY
Key Facts
- —The statement YPF’s chief executive spoke at an industry conference in Bangkok on Monday, 14 September.
- —The volumes Two or three contracts of between 0.5 and 1.5 million tonnes a year each.
- —The deadline He wants them closed before a final investment decision in November 2026.
- —The project Argentina LNG, with YPF at 36% upstream, Eni at 32% and Abu Dhabi’s XRG at 32%.
- —The scale About US$51bn, two floating liquefaction units at Golfo San Matías, from 12 million tonnes a year.
- —The catch No counterparty, volume or term has been disclosed for any completed deal.
A project of this size lives or dies on offtake. The offtake is the part still outstanding.
YPF LNG contracts are close to signature, according to the company’s chief executive. Horacio Marin said so at an industry conference in Bangkok on Monday, 14 September 2026.
Close is doing important work in that sentence. No completed contract has been disclosed with a named counterparty, volume or term.
What Is Actually in Negotiation
The YPF LNG contracts under discussion number two or three. Each would be for between 0.5 and 1.5 million tonnes a year.
He wants them closed before the project’s final investment decision, which is expected in November 2026. That is the deadline shaping the negotiation.
One Argentine outlet headlined that the project has landed its first buyers. Its own text says deals are close to signature and attributes any completion to unnamed sources.
No buyer is named anywhere. Until one is, this is a negotiation and not an offtake book.
The Project Behind It
Argentina LNG is the venture in question. YPF holds 36% of the upstream, with Italy’s Eni at 32% and Abu Dhabi’s XRG at 32%.
The investment is put at around US$51bn. It comprises two floating liquefaction units at Golfo San Matías in Río Negro province.
A 527 kilometre pipeline would run from the Neuquén basin to the coast. Capacity starts at 12 million tonnes a year and is designed to scale to 18.
Exports are projected at around US$10bn a year from 2031. That would make it the largest single export project in Argentine history.
Financing is described as 70% international credit and 30% partner contributions. That structure is single-sourced and should be treated as indicative.
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Two Things Not to Confuse
Eni and XRG are equity partners, and equity partners absorb part of the output by right. Their share is not a third-party sale.
Counting their offtake as contracts would double-count. The negotiations Marin described are with outside buyers.
There is also a separate confirmed deal that belongs to a different project. A supply agreement worth about US$7bn for 2 million tonnes a year with a German buyer sits with Southern Energy.
Southern Energy is not Argentina LNG. Folding that contract into this story is the easiest available error.
The Market Argument
Marin’s pitch rests on the disruption in the Gulf. Flows through the Strait of Hormuz are running at roughly a third of normal levels.
Asian buyers who relied on Qatari cargoes have an obvious reason to diversify. Argentina offers a supply source outside the Gulf entirely.
That is a real advantage and it is also a temporary one. A project reaching first cargo around 2031 cannot be sold on a 2026 disruption.
What the disruption does is make buyers willing to sign long deals now. The YPF LNG contracts need exactly that before November.
The Uruguayan Block, and a Correction
The second YPF item in circulation concerns offshore Uruguay. It is usually described as YPF deepening its exploration there.
The transaction runs the other way. Eni acquired 50% of the exploration and exploitation contract for block OFF-5 and becomes the operator.
YPF’s subsidiary keeps 50% as a non-operating partner. That is a farm-down by YPF and a farm-in by Eni.
The agreement was signed on 28 August 2026 and the Uruguayan state oil company announced approval on 29 August. It is a fortnight old, not Monday news.
Block OFF-5 covers about 17,000 square kilometres in water depths to 4,100 metres, some 200 kilometres offshore. YPF has held it since late 2023 under a thirty-year concession.
Eni separately took 40% of the adjacent OFF-6 block, operated by another company. Uruguay’s entire continental shelf is now under contract across seven offshore blocks.
Shell, QatarEnergy, Chevron and others hold the rest. Estimated recoverable potential across the shelf is put at around 30 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Has YPF signed new LNG contracts?
No. Its chief executive said on 14 September 2026 that two or three contracts of between 0.5 and 1.5 million tonnes a year are close to signature. No counterparty has been named.
What is Argentina LNG?
A venture with YPF at 36% of the upstream, Eni at 32% and Abu Dhabi’s XRG at 32%, involving about US$51bn of investment in two floating liquefaction units at Golfo San Matías.
When is the investment decision?
November 2026. The chief executive said he wants the sales contracts closed before it.
What happened in Uruguay?
Eni acquired 50% of the OFF-5 block and became its operator, with YPF’s subsidiary retaining 50% as a non-operating partner. The agreement was signed on 28 August 2026.
Is this the same as the German supply deal?
No. The confirmed agreement worth about US$7bn for 2 million tonnes a year with a German buyer belongs to Southern Energy, a separate project.
Sources: La Republica and Infobae of 14 September 2026, Infobae of 29 August and La Manana of Uruguay.
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