Argentina: Shale-Rich Neuquen Pulls Two YPF Concessions

Argentina's Neuquen province has huge untapped reserves of shale oil and gas and it will strip the country's biggest energy company YPF of two concessions due to insufficient investment.

The move by Neuquen, which affects two unproductive areas, comes days after fellow Patagonian oil provinces Chubut and Santa Cruz reverted YPF concessions. Neuquen is home to YPF's Vaca Muerta property, which could potentially double Argentina's energy output within a decade.

YPF, controlled by Spain's Repsol, is under government pressure to increase oil and natural gas output in order to reduce a mounting fuel bill that is eroding the trade surplus.

YPF's Chihuido de la Salina and Portezuelo Minas concessions would be taken over by the state-run company, Gas and Oil of Neuquen, the provincial government said in a statement.

YPF has rejected the charges of unfulfilled investment and commitments, vowing to take legal action against the "unilateral" revocation of its concessions in Chubut.