YPF, the largest oil and natural gas producer in Argentina, is focusing on shale oil for production growth as a glut slows natural gas output, managers at the state-backed company said Friday. The shift is aimed at reversing an expected an up to 3% decline 3% in overall output this year. “We have shifted our focus to accelerating our shale oil developments” in Vaca Muerta, the country’s largest shale play, said Sergio Giorgi, YPF’s vice president of strategy and business development. Giorgi spoke on a conference call with investors after the company reported late Thursday that its overall hydrocarbon production dropped 11.5% to 486,500 barrels of oil equivalent a day in the first quarter from 549,600 boe/d in the same quarter a year ago, dragged down by a 20.6% plunge in natural gas production […]