Natural Gas Supply Behavior under Interventionism: The Case of Argentina

Diego Barril, Fernando Navajas
2015 Energy Journal  
We address the causes behind the significant drop in natural gas production in the 2000s in Argentina, starting from a basic supply model that depends on economic incentives, and adding control variables related to different potential explanations such as firm specific (or area specific) behavior and the role of contractual renegotiation of concessions extensions. Results from a panel data of production areas between 2003 and 2013 show that once a basic supply-past production (or reserve)
more » ... onship is modeled, other often mentioned effects become non-significant. Chiefly among them are firm specific effects that were used as a central argument for the nationalization of YPF in 2012. Rather, the evidence shows that the observed downcycle conforms to the prediction of a simple model of depressed economic incentives acting upon mature conventional natural gas fields and hindering investment in reserve additions or new technologies. The results are robust to the nationalization of YPF, after which aggregate production continued a downward trend, but showing a change in the relative performance of YPF and the rest of the sector as a reconfiguration of price incentives and risks. JEL classification: Q3; Q4
doi:10.5547/01956574.36.4.1 fatcat:fdxrlnkjyvbw3jlyydufwyzhme