2017.08.1309:18:00UTC+00ARGENTINA: Government Cuts Import Taxes To Oil Industry Equipment

The Argentinean government zeroed the capital goods import tariff for the most critical equipment used by the oil industry. Other equipment related to the oil sector will pay a 7% import tax. The President Mauricio Macri's decree on the subject aims to accelerate investments in the Vaca Muerta field.

According to the Ministry of Production, Argentina needs between US$ 6.5 billion and US$ 8,0 billion in annual investments over the next few years to develop the Vaca Muerta region, and the import tariff measure should accelerate this process.

"To attract this amount of capital we have to improve the cost of extracting the resources that are underground today," said the Production Minister Francisco Cabrera. "This measure has the dual goal of improving oil companies' competitiveness and developing local suppliers in a context of greater activity in the sector."