In force since Jul 8, 2026
Neuquén sets Vaca Muerta rules: 12% royalty + bonuses (the 18% floor and the GyP minimum stayed an announcement) and monitoring that can take the block
Cross-cutting royalties policy (Decretos 276/2025 and related 2025; YPF LNG agreement ratified by Ley 3566, Official Gazette 07/08/2026)
in executionPROVINCIAL
Energy and natural resources
Neuquén announced an 18% royalty floor for new unconventional concessions, but the decrees signed apply 12% plus bonuses.
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
Neuquén takes advantage of the royalty-ceiling loosening enabled by the Ley Bases (27.742) to build its own rent-capture model on the new Vaca Muerta concessions, with five pieces.(1) RATE: it raises the royalty floor from 12% to 18% for the new unconventional concessions (CENCH), per the governor's office announcement of September 2025 ('operators will have to pay an 18% royalty floor, versus the 12% that applied previously') — although reading the instruments issued since then shows something else: in the three decrees read in their primary source (276/25, 277/25 and 1270/25) the rate implemented was 12%, and the extra capture was charged via compensatory bonuses (at Puesto Silva Oeste: USD 5,278,500 against a declared provincial 'expectation' of 15%, plus an Infrastructure Bonus of USD 4 M). The 18% floor still appears in no administrative act. In parallel, for the tender round of 15 areas via GyP an 'à la carte royalties' scheme was enabled with a competitive bid in a band of 13% to 17% depending on block productivity, proximity to the hub and product type. The market responded on 16-Sep-2026: 20 bids from 10 companies on 8 of the 15 areas, with more than USD 180 M in bonuses and more than USD 230 M of committed exploration investment, and GyP as a partner with 10% to 20% (official Neuquén release of 17-Sep); seven areas drew no bids and the award is still pending GyP's Board pre-award.(2) EQUITY STAKE: the government announced that the state company Gas y Petróleo del Neuquén (GyP) keep a minimum of 10% in the unconventional concessions prob. In La Escalonada and Rincón de la Ceniza, Decreto 1150/2025 approved in September 2025 the assignment of TotalEnergies' share to a YPF subsidiary, and GyP keeps the 10% it already had in those joint ventures from before verif; it is not a new application of the scheme.(3) BINDING TRIENNIAL MONITORING: the provincial State reviews every three years, on a binding basis (previously only 'indicative'), the development plan committed by the oil companies in three variables —investment, production and activity level—; if the operator does not justify performance below what was committed, the province can reverse up to 50% of the evaluated block, and another 50% of the remainder every three years if the non-fulfillment persists.(4) IN-KIND ROYALTIES: Governor Figueroa is pushing to collect gas and oil royalties in kind and have GyP market that gas as a trader, to supply Hidenesa, expand networks and substitute the (more expensive) LPG consumption in the interior.(5) ANTI-TRANSFER-PRICING REFERENCE PRICE FOR LNG: the Neuquén-YPF agreement for the LNG megaproject (ratified by Ley 3566, in force since 07/08/2026) sets tiered royalties of 7.5% / 10% / 12% according to the Asian JKM index (below USD 16/MMBtu; between 16 and 20; above 20), with 30-year fiscal stability, a triennial threshold-review mechanism (if the ratio between the JKM and the domestic industrial gas price —Base Ratio 4.5— rises or falls by 15% or more, the Base Values shift USD 2 in the opposite direction, cumulatively across three-year periods) and, as the calculation base for royalties on CENCH gas, the sale price of gas for industry (firm supply, Neuquén basin) published by the national Energy Secretariat (Res. 1/2018), expressly excluding volumes and prices destined for LNG verif. It is a lock so that integrated producers do not settle royalties on under-declared intra-group prices thesis. The agreement also includes an infrastructure investment commitment of USD 175 million and the obligation to notify the final investment decision (FID) and its financing within 24 months of the CENCH coming into force verif. prob Jul 8, 2026 ↗
In force
Capture model applying since March 2025 in the new CENCH (Decretos 0275-0277/2025 of 03/07/2025 and subsequent transfers: 12% rate + compensatory bonuses + GyP stake in other areas, not in Decreto 0276/2025, which instead sets a payment of 5% of net cash flow; the '18% floor' announced in Sept 2025 still has no administrative act). LNG agreement: ratified by Ley 3566, in force since its publication in Official Gazette 4593 (07/08/2026); its special regime operates from the FID/financing notice under art. 1.2 of the Agreement. prob Jul 8, 2026 ↗
Who it applies to
Operators and concessionaires of unconventional Vaca Muerta areas (YPF, TotalEnergies and others), which face a denser rent-capture model: a 12% rate with bonuses and additional payments in the new concessions, with the 18% floor still an announcement prob, and GyP as a partner in several joint ventures, such as the 10% it keeps in La Escalonada and Rincón de la Ceniza after TotalEnergies' exit verif. According to the press, if they do not meet the investment and production plan they can lose up to half the block; the regulatory text was not read prob. For the satellite-services ecosystem the effect is second-order but relevant: if the triennial monitoring is binding, executing the committed well plan stops being optional, which sustains demand for drilling, fracking, tubulars, sand, water and logistics over time; and GyP's growing role as partner and gas trader opens the door to suppliers contracting with the provincial state company thesis. prob Jul 8, 2026 ↗
The norm
Cross-cutting policy carried out through several acts. Enabling framework: the hydrocarbons chapter of the national Ley Bases 27.742 (2024), which loosened the royalty regime. Provincial instruments: Decreto 0276/2025, of 03/07/2025, grants YPF the unconventional concessions La Angostura Sur I and La Angostura Sur II with 12% royalties, an exploitation bonus of USD 1.32 million and a quarterly payment of 5% of the net cash flow of certain wells verif; the related Decretos 0275/2025 and 0277/2025 grant YPF the Narambuena and Aguada de la Arena areas prob. In La Escalonada and Rincón de la Ceniza, Decreto 1150/2025 approved the assignment of TotalEnergies' stake to a YPF subsidiary; GyP keeps the 10% it already had verif. The binding triennial monitoring and the 50% reversion for new concessions come from the press, with no regulatory text read prob. The reference price for LNG and the JKM-tiered royalties are in the Neuquén-YPF LNG Agreement of 06/04/2026, ratified by Ley provincial 3566 (passed on 06/25/2026, promulgated by Decreto 920/2026 of 07/06/2026 and published with the Agreement as an annex in Official Gazette No. 4593 of 07/08/2026) verif. The «18% floor» and the «GyP 10%» as general policy remained a September 2025 announcement: in the decrees read the rate implemented was 12% with compensatory bonuses (the 18% that appears in Decreto 277/2025 is the internal rate of return, not the royalty) prob. prob Jul 8, 2026 ↗
Our reading
Neuquén read the moment well: with the Ley Bases loosening the royalty ceiling, instead of raffling off the rent it announced an 18% floor —although in the instruments read the real capture was charged as compensatory bonuses over a 12% rate—, sat in as a partner (GyP, 5-10% depending on the case) and reserved the power to take up to half the block from whoever does not meet the investment plan. In exchange it offers what long-term capital needs —30-year fiscal stability and clear rules for LNG, with royalties tied to the Asian gas price. For the service supplier the signal is clear: whoever keeps an area has to drill, and that is firm demand for wells, sand, water and logistics for years. thesis
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Where it lands, province by province1
Neuquén A provincial rent-capture model: royalty implemented at 12% + compensatory bonuses (the announced 18% floor still has no administrative act; the GyP round tenders in a 13%-17% band), a GyP stake of at least 10% in CENCH (announced in September 2025, with no act setting it), a binding triennial review with reversal of up to 50% of the block for non-fulfillment, in-kind royalties (gas), a 7.5%-12% reference-price band by JKM for LNG export. favorable thesis
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Analysis and curation: Ignacio Aredez
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