RIGI: more time and more sectors

What changed

It amends Annex I of Decree 749/2024 (which regulates the RIGI of Law 27.742). It extends by one (1) year the deadline to adhere to the RIGI, counted from July 8, 2026 (new deadline: July 8, 2027). It reconfigures the Oil and Gas subsector with two investment floors: offshore exploration from USD 200,000,000 in eligible assets and new onshore developments from USD 600,000,000. It details the Technology sector, which includes biotechnology, nanotechnology, mobility with new powertrains, energy-transition technologies, the aerospace and satellite industry, the nuclear industry, software, robotics, artificial intelligence and the arms and defense industry. verif · Feb 19, 2026 ↗

In force

Signed on February 18, 2026, published in the Official Gazette on February 19, 2026 (notice 338519); it took effect the same day as its publication. verif · Feb 19, 2026 ↗

Who it affects

Owners of large investment projects that adhere to the RIGI, in particular in the oil and gas sector (offshore and onshore operators) and the new technology verticals (nuclear, aerospace/satellite, AI, software, biotechnology, defense). It benefits those who had not yet adhered by extending the deadline one more year. verif · Feb 19, 2026 ↗

The norm

Decreto 105/2026 of the national Executive, amending Annex I of Decreto 749/2024, the implementing rule of the RIGI (Ley 27.742, Title VII, arts. 164-228). verif · Feb 19, 2026 ↗

Our reading

The Government not only sustains the RIGI: it expands it. It stretches the adhesion window by a year and lowers to USD 200 million the offshore-exploration threshold, two signals that the regime is State policy and not an experiment (R3 stability). Adding nuclear, aerospace and AI broadens the investment menu beyond classic energy (R4 deregulation). What to watch: that the extension is not a symptom of adhesions taking longer than expected. thesis

Where it lands, province by province2

Neuquén It reconfigures precisely the subsector that most affects Vaca Muerta (onshore oil and gas, USD 600 M floor for new developments) and stretches the adhesion window by a year: more time for Neuquén projects to join the RIGI → more firm megaprojects → more demand for suppliers and satellite services. favorable stability → long-term investment thesis

Salta This is the federal reform that most decides Salta's future, and it has a date: Decree 105/2026 extended the filing deadline to 08-07-2027, and it is the only extension Law 27,742 allows. Taca Taca — USD 5,250 M declared, more than the province's entire approved RIGI portfolio combined (USD 4,055 M across three projects) — has NOT filed an application, and Pozuelos-Pastos Grandes is filed without a Committee decision. Salta's nine quantified niches are annualised over the 2026-2029 window of firm capex, which excludes copper: if copper enters before that date, the services market changes by an order of magnitude; if it does not, the construction demand peak stays capped at lithium and gold. This is a falsifiable prediction with a date, not an expectation. favorable stability → long-term investment thesis

RIGI: more time and more sectors

What changed and who it applies to

Our reading

Where it lands, province by province2

The other rules on this subject21

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