The changing global context is creating opportunities for Latin America in energy and investment. Speaking at CERAWeek 2026, Tecpetrol CEO Ricardo Markous highlighted the region’s potential, underscoring the role played by Vaca Muerta as well as the need for more infrastructure, regulatory clarity and a long-term policy framework to unlock value.

Worldwide, the energy system is undergoing a period of rapid change—a process marked by geopolitical tensions, shifting capital flows, and rising demand for secure supply. Against this backdrop, Latin America is moving into the foreground as a region with the structural conditions to play a bigger role.

Markous set out this view during two of the discussion sessions held at CERAWeek 2026: the Strategic Roundtable Latin America and the Strategic Dialogue “Unlocking Value: Investment Opportunities in Latin America”.

For Markous, the world is entering a period of profound change that is opening up concrete opportunities for Latin America. He pointed to Argentina as a key case, highlighting the potential of Vaca Muerta as a world-class asset. “Vaca Muerta is a huge opportunity,” he said. “Argentina currently produces about 900,000 barrels per day, and we expect to reach 1.5 million by the end of the decade.”

He added that regional gas flows are resuming, signaling a rebuilding of cross-border energy ties and scope for further expansion as infrastructure projects start to come on line. “Gas has gradually started flowing to Chile again, as well as to northern Argentina, and is beginning to flow to Brazil once more,” he shared.

Scaling up production will depend to a large extent on access to end markets. In that context, Markous explained that the combination of exports to neighboring countries and the development of the LNG sector offers a significant opportunity. “We need those markets,” he clarified.

However, investment in infrastructure is a major constraint. Markous observed that expanding transport capacity is critical to unlocking production: “We need to build more infrastructure so that we can export more gas,” he argued, adding that the opportunity for Argentina is significant.

He also pointed to the role played by private financing. Much of the country’s energy development so far has been funded by private companies and banks, with projects supported through the capital markets using various different financial instruments.

“Until now, financing in our country has been provided by private companies and banks through bond issuances,” he said, referring to energy projects structured according to this model.

Markous also underscored the need for regulatory frameworks to facilitate investment, referring to the Large Investment Incentive Program (RIGI), which he described as a mechanism to ease the tax burden and streamline project execution. “The RIGI must be what it is: an incentive to accelerate investment in Argentina,” he posited, adding that over time, such conditions should become standard.

As regards Vaca Muerta, ties with the United States have also played a critical role in its development. Markous pointed out that experience gleaned from the U.S. shale sector has in particular helped to shorten Argentina’s learning curve, supported by the presence of U.S. service companies and the speedy transfer of operational know-how.

Beyond oil and gas, he mentioned lithium and copper as additional areas of potential, with mining projects at various stages of development that could attract significant investment in the coming years.

Overall, Ricardo Markous’s remarks at CERAWeek sent a clear message about the scale of the opportunity awaiting Latin America on the global energy stage. However, he warned that realizing this potential crucially depends on expanding infrastructure, maintaining clear and stable rules, and sustaining a long-term policy framework.