The National Executive Branch has issued Decree No. 590/2026 (Official Gazette, July 15, 2026), instructing the Secretariat of Energy to launch an International Public Tender for the award of an exploration permit for hydrocarbons in the “CAN_200” area, located in the North Argentine Basin (Cuenca Argentina Norte), encompassing an approximate surface area of 5,000 km².
Among the principal features of the tender process mandated by the Decree are the following:
🔹 Origin of the process: The call for bids stems from an expression of interest submitted on February 14, 2025, by Challenger Energy Group PLC, pursuant to Section 46 of Law No. 17,319.
🔹 Tender Specifications: The Secretariat of Energy is expected to approve, in due course, the Tender Specifications and Conditions governing the bidding process, in accordance with the provisions of Law No. 17,319, as amended, together with the additional requirements established under Decree No. 590/2026.
🔹 Delegation of authority: The Secretariat of Energy has been delegated the authority to grant the exploration permit and, where applicable, the subsequent exploitation concession, pursuant to the final paragraph of Section 98 of Law No. 17,319.
🔹 Royalty regime: The successful concessionaire(s) shall pay royalties on production in accordance with Section 17 of Law No. 17,319. The Secretariat of Energy shall issue the supplementary regulations governing the applicable procedure and royalty calculation formula pursuant to Section 47 of such law.
🔹 International arbitration: The Decree authorizes the inclusion, in both the exploration permit and any subsequent exploitation concession, of forum selection clauses submitting disputes to international arbitral tribunals seated in a State Party to the 1958 New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards. The Decree expressly clarifies that such submission to arbitration shall not constitute a waiver of sovereign immunity from execution with respect to the exhaustive list of assets expressly identified therein.
This measure forms part of the offshore exploration promotion policy launched through Decree No. 872/2018 and the Offshore International Public Tender No. 1, and is consistent with the objective of maximizing hydrocarbon revenues established under Section 3 of Law No. 26,741.
For the Oil & Gas sector, Decree No. 590/2026 is significant in two key respects. First, it confirms that the National Government continues to promote the use of international public tenders for offshore areas where the bidding process is initiated following the expression of interest of a single interested party under Section 46 of Law No. 17,319. Second, it further consolidates the use of international arbitration clauses coupled with an express reservation of immunity from execution, a framework that has already been implemented in previous offshore bidding processes and should be taken into account when structuring exploration and exploitation agreements in Argentina.