The Congress of Argentina has approved a new oil law to amend the 1967 hydrocarbon law and to attract investments (including foreign investments) in the oil sector. The draft had been presented in September 2014 and the Senate had approved the law earlier in October 2014. Under the country's 1967 energy Act, provincial governments issue petroleum licenses and also determine concessions and the taxes foreign companies pay. The new law includes unconventional oil and gas reserves, such as the large Vaca Muerta shale field. It reduces the minimum investment thresholds for companies to be exempted from import controls from US$1bn to US$250m; this will enable oil and gas companies investing at least US$250m to freely dispose of currencies corresponding to 20% of their production. State-owned national oil and gas company YPF estimates that the development of the Vaca Muerta deposit and securing energy independence will cost up to US$200bn in the next ten years.
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