RIGI: Phoenix Global to invest US$ 6 billion in Vaca Muerta following incentives from the Milei government

In a context of the reactivation of the Argentine energy sector and of greater international interest in shale development, new investment signs are beginning to consolidate the impact of the reforms promoted by the administration of Javier Miley. The Government is committed to turning Vaca Muerta into one of the strategic engines of growth and exports, relying on regulatory and fiscal incentives aimed at attracting large scale capital. Within this framework, the oil company Phoenix Global Resources is preparing an investment of US$ 6 billion in the formation of the Vaca Muerta shale, after President Javier Milei expanded incentives for energy investors, also incorporating oil drilling projects into the Incentive Regime for Large Investments (RIGI

).

According to information published by Bloomberg, in the coming days the company will submit its request to join RIGI with the objective of developing land located on the eastern flank of the Patagonian shale fields, in addition to making progress on a new asset in another sector of the basin that it is about to acquire. This was confirmed by the company's CEO, Pablo Bizzotto, during an interview. Phoenix Global Resources is a crude oil producer backed by the Swiss marketer Mercuria Energy, which owns approximately 90% of the company. Mercuria founded Phoenix almost a decade ago and privatized it in 2022, maintaining its presence in the country even when other international companies such as Exxon Mobil, TotalEnergies and Equinor decided to divest assets, partly because of frustrations stemming from capital controls or to realize large profits after the sale of

land.

As Bizzotto explained, the new incentive scheme represents a structural change in the perception of the country for investors. “RIGI takes its asset and virtually transfers it to a developed country,” the executive said on March 27 in Buenos Aires. “Of course there are financial advantages that increase profitability, but for me the most important aspect is the message it transmits: Argentina is not going to change the rules of the game,” he added.

The national government has used RIGI as a central tool to attract energy and mining projects worth tens of billions of dollars, offering tax exemptions that improve the economy of shale gas and oil development, together with legal guarantees aimed at protecting companies against political interference that for years was a recurring feature of the Argentine business climate before Milei came to power in 2023. The decision to expand RIGI's reach to include oil wells in Vaca Muerta promises to accelerate the sector's growth. In the case of Phoenix, the program is already influencing asset acquisition negotiations and internal deliberations about the incorporation of a third drilling rig

.

The company movement is also part of a wider dynamic within the industry.

Other important players in the sector, such as Tecpetrol SA and Pampa Energía SA, also announced the presentation of multi-million dollar proposals, in parallel with the progress made in the construction of an emblematic oil pipeline, which will begin to receive its first shipments of crude oil in approximately one year.

Phoenix currently produces around 22,000 barrels per day and projects a growth of 260% towards the end of the decade, in a scenario where the expansion of shale is moving to new areas, including areas of Rio Negro and other non-traditional blocks within the formation. In these sectors, the company has shown operating results that allowed it to consolidate itself as one of the players with the highest recent growth within Vaca Muerta

.

Behind these business decisions, a key political factor appears: the expansion of RIGI driven by the ruling party. The scheme incorporates fiscal benefits and, above all, regulatory stability, a point that the energy sector considers decisive after years of controls, interventions and restrictions on capital repatriation

.

In this sense, a central idea is repeated within the industry: beyond the one-off tax advantage, the real change lies in the signal that the Government seeks to give. For international investors, the possibility of planning long-term projects with predictable rules begins to reposition Argentina as a competitive destination on the global energy map

.