In force since Mar 22, 2004
The mother law of Vaca Muerta: it sets the 12% royalty since 2004 and forbids the Province from raising taxes on the concession holder
Ley provincial 2453 (passed 03/10/2004, promulgated by Decreto 0371/04)
in forcePROVINCIAL
Energy and natural resources
Ley 2453 declares Neuquén's fields provincial property and sets the framework under which every permit and every concession is granted.
The other rules on this subject43
The State reorders the trunk gas pipelines and forces firm transportation contracts to be redrawnRes. SE 66/2026 (Official Gazette, Mar 13, 2026) + Res. ENARGAS 409/2026in execution
Hydrocarbons: the pre-export local offer fallsSE Res. 166/2026 (Official Gazette, Jul 22, 2026)in force
What changed and who it applies to
What changed
It is Neuquén's hydrocarbons framework law, the normative floor on which the Vaca Muerta operation is built. Five pieces matter to the investor.(1) OWNERSHIP: art. 1 declares that the hydrocarbon fields located in the province «belong to the inalienable and imprescriptible patrimony» of the Province, and declares a priority need to increase production, the full development of the petrochemical industry and «the industrialization of the resources at their place of origin».(2) ROYALTY: art. 61 sets that the concession holder shall pay monthly a royalty of 12% on the liquid hydrocarbons extracted at the wellhead, «which the provincial Executive may reduce down to five percent (5%)» according to the productivity, conditions and location of the wells: in the provincial text the only flexibility is downward.(3) TAX STABILITY: art. 58 establishes that, during the life of permits and concessions, the Province may not levy new taxes on their holders nor increase existing ones, except for general increases of provincial taxes; it is a stability of legal rank, prior and parallel to the RIGI.(4) FEES: art. 59 sets the annual exploration fee per km² for category II and IIa (Possible) areas across three periods ($10.56, $21.12 and $31.60 per km²) plus extensions ($2,112 per km² the first year, rising 50% a year cumulatively); art. 60 sets the exploitation fee at $419.50 per km². These are 2004-peso values that the Executive may update «at its sole discretion»; today's amount does not come from this law.(5) SETTLEMENT: arts. 62 to 65 define computable production and the wellhead, and require a monthly sworn statement within 30 days with the wellhead value reported in dollars; art. 64 provides that, if there is economic linkage between concession holder and buyer, no prices are set or the product goes to industrialization, the price is set «according to the current value of the product in the domestic market». Art. 66 allows requesting a royalty reduction for an unprofitable well, and the enforcement authority decides «without appeal». Arts. 67 to 71 regulate collecting the royalty in kind: the State must give 90 days' notice and the decision stays in place at least 6 months verif. That 12% is no longer the effective ceiling for new concessions: Ley Bases 27.742 (art. 132) replaced art. 59 of the national Ley 17.319, which now sets the royalty at «a percentage equivalent to the one determined in the award process», with bidding on a 15% base (art. 47) verif. The provincial decrees for unconventional concessions ground the rate on that national article unconf. Collecting royalties in kind does not require a new law: the framework law already gives the Province that power thesis. verif Mar 10, 2004 ↗
In force
In force since its promulgation by Decreto 0371/04 (03/22/2004) verif; published in the Official Gazette on 03/26/2004 prob; the Legislature also records an implementing decree of December 2004, which was not confirmed in the Official Gazette unconf. Its art. 61 keeps the original text: according to the Official Gazette record, the law was amended only once, by Ley 2839 of 2013, which changed art. 119 (definition of state companies) and not the royalty regime prob. The national framework did change: Ley Bases 27.742 (Official Gazette of 7/8/2024) replaced, among others, arts. 47, 58 bis and 59 of the national Ley 17.319: the royalty became «a percentage equivalent to the one determined in the award process», with bidding on a 15% base, and the fees are adjusted by the Brent barrel price verif. The 2025 provincial decrees for unconventional concessions ground the rate on art. 59 of the national law unconf. How the provincial and national laws articulate today is an open legal question this dataset does not resolve thesis. verif Mar 22, 2004 ↗
Who it applies to
Every hydrocarbons operator and concession holder in Neuquén: it is the framework under which exploration permits and exploitation concessions are granted, including the unconventional ones in Vaca Muerta. The law sets a 12% royalty that the Executive can only lower down to 5% (art. 61) and tax stability: during the concession, the Province cannot create new taxes for the concession holder or raise existing ones, except general increases (art. 58). Art. 1 declares a priority «the industrialization of the resources at their place of origin», and art. 66 leaves the royalty reduction for an unprofitable well to the enforcement authority, «without appeal» verif. For new concessions, the effective royalty is no longer read in this law alone: since Ley Bases, the percentage set by the award under the national Ley 17.319 governs verif. For suppliers the effect is indirect: art. 1 is the legal basis of provincial local procurement, and art. 66 gives the Province room for decision over the economics of mature wells, something relevant for whoever offers well repair or looks at reverted conventional areas thesis. verif Mar 10, 2004 ↗
The norm
Ley provincial 2453 of Neuquén. Passed by the Honorable Provincial Legislature on 03/10/2004; registered under number 2453 on 03/22/2004; promulgated by Decreto provincial 0371/04 (signed Sobisch / Silvestrini). Published in the Official Gazette on 03/26/2004 prob. Official text: a 28-page PDF in the provincial digest (infoleg.neuquen.gob.ar/Leyes/Ley_2453.pdf), a scan with no OCR. Relevant structure: Title I 'Disposiciones Generales' (General Provisions; Arts. 1-10: provincial ownership, enforcement authority, area categories Proven / Secondary interest / Possible / High exploratory risk); Section VI 'Tributos y Derechos' (Taxes and Fees; Arts. 58-61: tax stability, exploration fee, exploitation fee, 12% royalty); Arts. 62-71 (computable production, wellhead, royalty sworn statements, reduction for wells that are not economically exploitable, royalty in kind). Art. 8 preserves the mining properties granted to private parties before the law, which remain governed by their original contractual terms. verif Mar 22, 2004 ↗
Our reading
When people argue over how much rent Neuquén takes from Vaca Muerta, the argument is almost always about decrees. But it pays to look further down: the provincial framework law of 2004 sets the royalty at 12% on liquids at the wellhead, and the only margin it gives the governor is to lower it to 5% for weak wells. That number is still intact: in 22 years the 2453 was amended only once, and for something else. Now —and this is what sorts out the noise around the '18% floor' (announced in Sep-2025, never instrumented)— that 12% is no longer a ceiling: the Ley Bases rewrote the national regime and the royalty became *whatever is determined in the award*, with a 15%+X base in public bids. That is why GyP's round can tender 13-17% without breaking anything: it is not a provincial invention, it is the national law's mechanism. And that is why the CENCH decrees instrument 12%: not because they cannot go higher, but because they are concessions already agreed, where the law orders respecting what was covenanted. For the investor there is a second piece of news, better and less told: Art. 58 forbids the Province from creating new taxes or raising existing ones for the life of the concession. That is fiscal stability by framework law, free and with no paperwork — what RIGI adds is not the concept but the federal rank, the 30 years and the arbitration. And the 'anti-transfer-pricing' celebrated as an innovation of the LNG agreement was already written in 2004: Art. 64 orders settling at current market value when there is economic linkage between seller and buyer. The province is not improvising rules: it is using them. thesis
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Where it lands, province by province1
Neuquén Hydrocarbons framework law: provincial ownership of the fields, legal 12% royalty on liquids at the wellhead reducible by the Executive to 5% (original text intact: only amendment in 22 years = Ley 2839, on corporate Art. 119), provincial tax stability during permits and concessions (Art. 58), per-km² fees (2004 nominal values, overtaken by the national barrel-denominated fee of the Ley Bases), settlement by monthly sworn statement at wellhead value in dollars with an economic-linkage lock (Art. 64) and the power to collect the royalty in kind (Arts. 67-71). The 12% of Art. 61 does NOT operate as a ceiling since the Ley Bases: the national regime moved to 'the royalty determined in the award' (15%+X base in bidding). favorable thesis
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