Overview
- The Secretaría de Energía formalized Resolution 166/2026 in the Boletín Oficial on Wednesday, July 22, 2026, putting a new notification-based export regime into force.
- The rule creates a single Registro de Operaciones de Exportación and requires exporters to file through the Trámites a Distancia (TAD) platform so the Subsecretaría de Hidrocarburos can record notifications, objections and Constancias de Libre Exportación.
- Under the new ‘silence positive’ system the authority has 30 business days to object to crude, gasoline and diesel exports and seven business days for propane, butane and mixed LPG, after which exporters may demand the customs document that clears shipments.
- The state kept a short, taxative list of objection grounds—lack of availability for the domestic market, failure to prove reserves or production capacity, false information, anticompetitive practices, sharp local price swings, and disproportionate volumes—and long-term deals over 12 months must supply contracts and reserve or production proof.
- Officials framed the change as a deregulatory step to match record output from Vaca Muerta and speed exports, a shift that gives producers clearer export rights but raises questions about the agency’s capacity to vet fast-rising filings and protect domestic supply.