Neuquén revokes an unconventional concession in Vaca Muerta for the first time and reassigns it in 21 days

Neuquén executed the first precedent of an unconventional-concession lapse in Vaca Muerta. (1) Decree 1148/2025: declares the Puesto Silva Oeste CENCH of Pluspetrol S.A. revoked for violating Art. 2, subsection B of the Agreement approved by Decree 1280/2022 — the company did NOT execute the committed pilot plan, which the decree itself puts at «fourteen million two hundred forty-nine thousand United States dollars (U$D 14,249,000)» to be executed within no more than three years: locations and roads, drilling, completion and start-up of ONE well with an SWB (Single Oil Well Battery). The province rejected the extensions: the decree states that the deadline «is peremptory and mandatory, an extension not being admissible on commercial, strategic or business grounds», which is what Pluspetrol was invoking with a view to a possible assignment to a third party. With the lapse of the unconventional title, the area returned to its previous status: only the original Exploitation Concession from Administrative Decision 216/97 remained in force, extended by Decree 2100/08 (art. 2 of Decree 1148/2025 itself, which further clarifies that the time elapsed under the CENCH neither suspends nor interrupts the term of the original concession). ⚠️ The «expiring May 2032» we used to cite does NOT appear in the decree: it comes from computing the 2100/08 extension and remains our own derivation, not a fact from the act. (2) Decree 1270/2025: authorizes Pluspetrol to assign 100% of its stake to GeoPark, which receives a new 35-year CENCH. GeoPark's commitments: a USD 14.5 million pilot plan over 3 years (a 2,500 m horizontal well with 42 frac stages), an infrastructure bonus of USD 4,000,000, USD 362,500 of Corporate Social Responsibility and an annual contribution of USD 20,000 for the Energy and Hydrocarbons Undersecretariat. GeoPark assigns 5% of the block to Gas y Petróleo del Neuquén (GyP) as a strategic partner and operates 95%. Confirmed in the official text of Decree 1270/2025: GyP holds 5% of the economic rights (GeoPark operates 95%), a fixed USD 4,000,000 infrastructure bonus, 12% royalties (new and existing wells) plus a USD 5,278,500 Compensation Bonus. Still pending: the "binding three-year monitoring" was not confirmed in any source. verif · Sep 23, 2025 ↗

2025-09-19 verif · Sep 23, 2025 ↗

Operators with a CENCH in Neuquén that hold areas without fulfilling the committed pilot plan (risk of lapse and reassignment); new entrants to Vaca Muerta via assignment/M&A (GeoPark as a case); GyP, which enters as a partner in re-awarded blocks; and the service companies and satellite SMEs, which gain demand when the area passes to an operator that actually invests (drilling, fracking, batteries, infrastructure). prob · Sep 23, 2025 ↗