Argentina Sets Oil Record as Its Export Ranking Shifts
July output hit a record and crude oil topped the single-product export table. The soy complex, however, still earns more export dollars than the oil complex. The post Argentina Sets Oil Record as Its Export Ranking Shifts appeared first on The Rio Times .
Argentina oil production reached a record high in July, reaching 916,200 barrels per day, according to the latest figures published by the national energy secretariat on August 24. This was 17.2 percent higher than the same month a year earlier, marking the highest monthly production on record. The majority of this increase came from the Vaca Muerta shale formation, which alone produced 643,100 barrels per day in July, a 26.4 percent rise from the previous year.
Unconventional wells, mainly shale, supplied 71.08 percent of the total output, with conventional fields contributing the remaining 28.92 percent.
Neuquén province led production with 658,639 barrels per day, a monthly gain larger than the country's overall gain. Shale wells accounted for 97.36 percent of Neuquén's output in July. The previous peak production level was in 1998, with 847,000 barrels per day, a record that stood for 27 years until being broken in October 2025. Argentina's oil production has set new highs repeatedly since then, with July representing a genuine all-time high.
In terms of exports, crude oil led the single-product ranking in the first half of 2026, bringing in US$4.69 billion. However, when considering the whole export complex, the soy complex came out on top, exporting US$9.08 billion, up 5.7 percent from the previous year. This included soy meal, soy oil, and beans, which accounted for roughly US$8.35 billion.
The petroleum and petrochemical complex followed closely behind with US$8.12 billion, marking a record high for the series starting in 2002. Crude oil alone accounted for US$4.7 billion of that total.
Lithium exports also showed significant growth, reaching US$1.13 billion in the first half of 2026, an increase of 186.3 percent. This placed the lithium complex in the top ten export categories for the first time, with lithium carbonate making up about 88 percent of the shipments. The automotive complex, however, saw a decline from third to fourth place, exporting US$3.98 billion in the first half of 2025.
In total, crude oil exports reached US$5.72 billion between January and July, accounting for 9.8 percent of the country's total exports. Fuel and energy exports over the same period amounted to about US$9 billion, with the energy trade surplus reaching US$6.85 billion, an increase of 84 percent compared to the previous year. Despite this growth, the overall goods surplus for the first half of 2026 was US$6.94 billion, a slight decrease of 1.1 percent from the same period in 2025.
Argentina's energy sector, particularly oil and energy exports, is now the fastest-growing source of export dollars, while farming still contributes a substantial portion of the country's export earnings.
Written by urgent.news from The Rio Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
