Argentina’s federal government, for over a decade, has hungrily eyed the vast hydrocarbon potential of the Vaca Muerta (dead cow in Spanish) shale formation in Neuquén Province. It was in 2011 that the Peronist government of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner seized 51% of YPF from Spanish energy major Repsol, provoking a major backlash from financial markets and Big Oil. Despite the considerable negativity surrounding YPF’s nationalization, it was the catalyst that saw the driller emerge as a driving force fo ...