Macri Juggling Act Entangles Argentina's Answer to Permian

  • Drillers weigh projects after tweaks to natural gas subsidies
  • Changing rules overnight could be warning bell for investors

A YPF pumpjack near Vaca Muerta, Argentina, on Dec. 4, 2014. 

Photographer: Juan Mabromata/AFP/Getty Images
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One of the world’s biggest shale formations is getting caught up in Argentina’s efforts to balance its books.

After a win in the Oct. 22 midterm elections, President Mauricio Macri unveiled reformsBloomberg Terminal to trim a fiscal deficit seen ending 2017 at about 4 percent of gross domestic product. The result: Macri will spend less on a subsidy that natural gas drillers depended on for their shale projects. While new wells qualify, it’ll be tough for those in production to get the higher prices.