Vaca Muerta Argentina has been shaping up as one of the best places on Earth for oil and gas exploration. With high and rising government-mandated prices helping to spur big investments in exploration and development. But those plans hit a major hitch late last week. When the country’s Supreme Court stepped into the regulation of commodities pricing. Argentina’s highest judges moved last Thursday to suspend planned price hikes for natural gas. Which Argentina’s new government had previously promised would fix natgas rates as high as $7.50/MMBtu — an elevated level that would have given producers and explorers in the country a big leg up. But the courts ruled that forcing Argentina’s gas consumers to pay more is unconstitutional. With judges saying that the government must first hold public hearings on the proposed price increases — before finalizing the measures and cementing higher prices for producers. That puts the future […]