BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentina logged its largest energy trade surplus in nearly two decades last year, the energy secretariat said on Tuesday, marking a win for libertarian President Javier Milei who has vowed to use oil and gas exports to propel the weakened economy out of recession.
The Latin American nation exported $9.68 billion worth of fuel and energy out of the country in 2024 while pumping in $4.01 billion, marking a surplus of $5.67 billion.
The data, part of a record annual trade surplus, showed that Chile was the top destination for Argentina’s energy exports.
Milei hopes the boost from energy and agricultural exports, along with downsized public spending, can help tame runaway inflation and refill depleted state coffers in South America’s No. 2 economy.
The far-right economist and one-time political outsider is betting on turning the nation into a net energy exporter by developing its Vaca Muerta shale reserves, some of the largest in the world.
Earlier on Tuesday, state-run energy company YPF announced a tie-up with three Indian firms to potentially export up to 10 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) a year.
(Reporting by Eliana Raszewski in Buenos Aires; Editing by Nia Williams)
