Argentina, US Set to Sign $6 Billion Financing Deal Backing Vaca Muerta LNG Exports

Workers lay pipe for a Vaca Muerta gas pipeline. The US-backed package centers on exporting the formation's gas as LNG. Photo via X/@clarincom.

By The Editors · September 23, 2026 · 2 min read

Key Facts

The package:Argentina and the US are set to sign a financing agreement worth at least $6 billion for infrastructure, energy and critical-minerals projects, with about $7 billion more earmarked for 2027.
The flagship project:Argentina LNG, a YPF-Eni-XRG venture to export Vaca Muerta gas via floating liquefaction units off Rio Negro, targeting 12 million tonnes a year and a cumulative $51 billion investment under Argentina's RIGI regime.
The financing:Backed by the US Export-Import Bank, the Development Finance Corporation and private American banks, with EXIM providing risk coverage to participating companies.
The signing:Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno and US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau were scheduled to present the agreement Wednesday evening at Argentina's consulate in New York.

Argentina and the United States are set to sign a financing agreement worth at least $6 billion for infrastructure, energy and critical-minerals projects, anchored by US government-backed support for the Argentina LNG project drawing on Vaca Muerta's shale gas reserves, according to Argentine officials traveling with President Milei's delegation to the UN General Assembly in New York.

Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno and US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau were scheduled to present the agreement Wednesday evening at Argentina's consulate in New York, with the US Export-Import Bank (EXIM) and private American banks providing the bulk of the financing alongside the US Development Finance Corporation, officials said. YPF chief executive Horacio Marín and EXIM's chief commercial officer, Sarah Whitten, were also expected to attend.

"In a sense, the EXIM Bank is financing a private company. It's for a very important infrastructure and energy project for Argentina," Quirno said, describing the mechanism. "Generally, what these kinds of banks also do is provide risk coverage to companies so they can access that financing."

The Project

The flagship project behind the package is Argentina LNG, a joint venture between YPF, Italy's Eni and the United Arab Emirates' XRG to convert Vaca Muerta gas into liquefied natural gas for export using two floating liquefaction units planned off the Río Negro coast, with a combined capacity of 12 million tonnes a year. The consortium applied in August for incentives under Argentina's RIGI investment regime, tied to a cumulative investment of $51 billion, with a final investment decision expected by the end of the year.

Quirno said the broader goal was "to strengthen the relationship between the United States and Argentina," adding that American banks were also involved in the project and that the financing reflected US companies' interest in participating in Argentina's energy and minerals sectors.

Argentine officials said the package includes roughly $7 billion earmarked for 2027 and extends beyond gas to critical-minerals supply chains and an AI-infrastructure initiative referred to internally as "Pax Silica," part of a wider Washington push to lock in access to strategic resources and cement Argentina's role as a hemispheric ally.

The Bigger Picture

The announcement comes as Argentina's government leans heavily on its alignment with Washington across multiple fronts at once -- from the UN floor, where Foreign Minister Quirno spent Tuesday sparring with Britain over the Malvinas (Falkland Islands), to Wall Street financing for its flagship energy project -- underscoring how central the US relationship has become to Milei's economic strategy heading into 2027.