YPF Lifting Costs Fall 44% to $9.6/BOE as Shale Output Hits 204,000 bpd
YPF’s Q4 lifting costs dropped 44% year-over-year to $9.6/BOE after 26% full-year cost cuts to $11.6/BOE, while conventional output slid 32% to 90,000 bpd in 2025 and 68,000 bpd in Q4. Record shale oil output hit 204,000 bpd in December, driving $1.3 billion Q4 adjusted EBITDA.
1. Production Trends
Conventional oil production averaged 90,000 bpd in 2025, down 32% from 2024, and fell to 68,000 bpd in Q4 after divestments. Lifting costs declined 26% full year to $11.6/BOE and surged to a 44% drop in Q4 to $9.6/BOE, while shale oil output rose 35% to 165,000 bpd in 2025 and reached 204,000 bpd in December.
2. Earnings and Cash Flow
Adjusted EBITDA in Q4 reached nearly $1.3 billion, marking 53% internal growth, and full-year EBITDA hit $5.0 billion, the highest in a decade. Revenue fell 4% to $18.4 billion due to weaker crude prices, and Q4 free cash flow returned to positive $261 million, boosted by a $200 million Profertil stake sale payment.
3. Asset Strategy
YPF acquired three Vaca Muerta blocks—Sierra Chata, La Escalonada and Rincón de la Ceniza—and sold its 50% Profertil stake for $635 million plus the Manantiales Behr field for about $410 million and a $40 million earn-out. The company raised $3.7 billion in 2025 debt financings, ended the year with $1.2 billion cash and a 1.9x net leverage ratio.
4. LNG Project and Guidance
A joint development agreement was formalized for a 6 Mtpa first phase Argentina LNG project with ~$2 billion CapEx, and a 12 Mtpa integrated phase targeting ~$20 billion CapEx and FID in 2026. Management forecasts higher shale output and adjusted EBITDA in 2026, with free cash flow expected to be neutral to slightly negative.