Drillers in Argentina have sought for years to replicate the success of the U.S. shale boom in its huge oil and gas deposits in the Vaca Muerta shale play. The reality is, up until now, success has come in fits and starts, not only because of the fracking challenges and insufficient infrastructure to export oil and gas from Vaca Muerta to international markets, but also because of government policies and the on-and-off economic crisis in the South American nation. Now, with a new Argentine president swearing in this week, exploration and production at the Vaca Muerta formation may be revitalized again and, according to the incoming president’s draft plans for incentivizing development, the shale play could become an important stream of commodity export revenues that could help heal Argentina’s finances. Vaca Muerta, Spanish for ‘dead cow’, has been dubbed the ‘Argentinian Permian’, although its geologic properties have been compared […]