Vaca Muerta Shale Play Heats Up as Argentina's Oil Production Hits Record High

Billionaire oilman Harold Hamm has made another savvy investment in Argentina's Vaca Muerta shale play, and it appears he might be onto something big. Continental Resources, the company founded by Hamm, recently acquired certain non-operating interests in four blocks within the Neuquén Basin through an Assets Sale and Purchase Agreement with Pan American Energy.

Just months after Hamm visited Argentina and met with President Javier Milei, OilPrice.com reported that the country's oil production hit a record high of 887,227 barrels per day in May 2026. Natural gas output also rose to 5.5 billion cubic feet per day, just shy of the record set in July 2025.

The Vaca Muerta shale formation is considered one of the most promising unconventional oil and gas plays globally, with an estimated 16 billion barrels of recoverable oil and 308 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas resources. Its characteristics are superior to those of U.S. shales, including a thicker shale layer allowing for more horizontal landings per pad and more frac stages per well.