Peter Thiel Invests $76 Million in Argentina's Vaca Muerta Shale

Vista currently produces roughly 160,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, having already funneled over $6.5 billion into the Vaca Muerta play. This region, the world’s second-largest shale deposit, reached a record crude output of 887,227 barrels per day this past May, marking a 19% increase year-over-year. As production scales, Argentina has surpassed Colombia to become Latin America’s fourth-largest oil producer.

The investment aligns with President Milei’s strategy to leverage the country’s vast, cool Patagonian expanses and abundant natural gas to attract data center operators. With infrastructure projects accelerating to boost offtake capacity, analysts at Rystad Energy project that regional production could climb to between 1 million and 1.5 million barrels daily by 2030. According to Jai Singh, head of oil and gas research at Rystad, the basin is maturing rapidly, offering firms a prime entry point to apply North American shale expertise to local operations.