YPF, Argentina's state-controlled oil company, plans to increase natural gas production in the Aguada la Arena area of the Vaca Muerta shale reservoir, with capital approval expected this year.

The project includes the modernization of the existing 1 million-cubic-meter-per-day natural gas-treatment plant, a plant expansion and drilling programs for the following four years in order to reach plant capacity of 4 million cubic feet per day.