Argentina's RIGI Offers Investors Thirty Years of Stability. Vaca Muerta Exports Are the Real Target

Argentina's Incentive Regime for Large Investments, known as RIGI, was created by the Ley Bases, Law 27,742, passed in June 2024 after months of negotiation between President Javier Milei's government and Congress. The implementing decree followed in August. RIGI offers qualifying projects 30 years of tax, customs, foreign exchange and regulatory stability, along with a lower corporate income tax rate, accelerated depreciation and relief from export duties after an initial period. It also gives access to international arbitration for disputes.

The general investment threshold is USD 200 million, with higher thresholds for some sectors: USD 300 million for oil and gas transport and storage, and USD 600 million for export-oriented gas projects and offshore developments, according to the government's summary for investors. The regime is open to many sectors, including mining, infrastructure, forestry and technology. The Vaca Muerta shale formation in Neuquén province holds some of the largest shale oil and gas resources outside North America.

Production has grown strongly over the past few years, and Argentina has moved from being a net energy importer towards becoming an exporter. A large LNG project can cost many billions of dollars and take years to build before it earns any revenue. Projects that join are protected for 30 years from changes in tax, customs and foreign exchange rules that would worsen their position. For energy exporters, the foreign exchange provisions are probably the most valuable.

Argentina's currency controls, known as the cepo, have made it difficult for companies to move money in and out of the country. The first energy projects to benefit are likely to be in oil rather than gas. Shale oil from Vaca Muerta is already flowing, and the immediate bottleneck is the capacity to move it to the coast and load it onto export tankers. RIGI is the most serious attempt in decades to give long-term investors in Argentina the predictability they need.