The massive Vaca Muerta shale patch has reached a historic milestone: its daily production of natural gas is now at 90.96 million cubic metres – three times as much as neighbouring Bolivia’s 24.33 million. However, the acceleration of output in Patagonia has shifted the balance: whereas in 2014, Bolivia produced 60 million cubic metres and Vaca Muerta merely contributed 600,000, by 2022 it was 36.6 million as against 42.1, in favour of the latter. Industry experts point out that Bolivia is in a state of continual decline, with falls of around four million cubic metres per year, given the lack of new exploration and fresh reserves. By contrast, Argentina is not only self-sufficient, it has already started exporting gas from Vaca Muerta to Brazil via the Bolivian grid, marking a strategic turn in the regional energy map. Stretching across Neuquén and into the provinces of Mendoza, Río Negro and La Pampa, the Vaca Muerta formation contains the second-largest shale gas reserves in the world and the fourth-largest unconventional oil reserves.