YPF refocuses on shale in management shakeup

Market: Crude oil, Natural gas
14/05/20

The new chief executive of Argentina's state-controlled YPF has rejiggered management to focus on reviving unconventional development at a time deepening austerity.

"We reorganized the team to grow again," said Sergio Affronti, who was appointed on 30 April.

Pablo Bizzotto, a well-known local specialist in unconventional oil and gas in Argentina, will no longer serve as upstream vice president. His role has now been split, with Gustavo Astie in charge of conventional upstream and Pablo Iuliano in charge of the unconventional side.

Iuliano has broad experience in unconventional production, first in developing shale gas projects in YPF until he moved to Tecpetrol, a subsidiary of Argentina's Techint Group, in 2017. At Tecpetrol he helped to develop Fortín de Piedra, the company's star shale gas project that was largely responsible for Argentina's recent surge in gas production. Now back at YPF, Iuliano will be based in the southwestern province of Neuquen, the heartland of the Vaca Muerta shale formation.

Astie previously served as manager of YPF's unconventionals division.

Energy and gas vice president Marcos Browne, who ushered in YPF's first LNG exporting efforts, has been replaced by Santiago Martínez Tanoira, who was previously downstream vice president. That position will now be held by Mauricio Martin, who was executive manager for logistics.

Earlier this week, Affronti told investors the company needed "to become leaner to be able to move faster" in what he characterized as "unprecedented times" because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In one of his first moves as chief executive, he slashed salaries by as much as 25pc for non-union workers, with executives receiving the largest cuts.

The company has said it is reevaluating its planned investments this year.

"We are now focusing more on cash preservation than growth," Sergio Giorgi, YPF's strategy and business development vice president, told investors in a first quarter earnings call on 12 May.

By Daniel Politi

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Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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