Vaca Muerta Faces the Challenge of Scaling Up Its Industrial Footprint

Vaca Muerta closed 2025 with 23,894 hydraulic fracturing stages, a volume equivalent to 4.4% of the approximately 545,000 carried out in the US Land segment of the United States. The gap reflects a difference in operational scale rather than a geological limitation.

A recalculation prepared for the Argentine Institute of Oil and Gas (IAPG) and the Secretariat of Energy placed the formation's technically recoverable oil resources at 30,170 million barrels. That volume is on the same order of magnitude as estimates for the Wolfcamp and Wolfcamp-Bone Spring plays in the Permian Basin.

The difference is also evident in drilling rig counts. While the Permian has 267 active rigs, Vaca Muerta operates around 42. Industry projections anticipate raising that number to 56 units by 2027, although the ratio would remain heavily unfavorable for the Neuquén basin.

More Activity, Greater Demands

Operational estimates point to reaching 39,000 fracturing stages a year by 2027. To achieve that pace, the industry will need to expand financing for drilling companies, completion services, maintenance, logistics, spare parts and support infrastructure.

Among the main obstacles identified are the supply of critical inputs, congestion on provincial roads, the availability of water refill points, and the coordination of simultaneous operations. Higher activity levels would also require more locally sourced sand, water, heavy-duty transport, and storage and treatment facilities.

The geological update raised the estimate by 89% compared with the 2013 baseline calculation, which had placed recoverable resources at 16,000 million barrels. The increase was linked to a larger prospective area, new navigation levels, and improvements in well design and fracture density.

Upstream growth will need to be matched by sufficient midstream infrastructure to move production. The ability to channel capital, equipment and inputs to the supply chain will be decisive in determining whether Vaca Muerta can turn its geological potential into a larger industrial scale.

With information from Mejor Energía.