The US Export-Import Bank has issued a non-binding indicative term sheet for up to $6bn to back Argentina LNG, a proposed $51bn integrated liquefied natural gas export project in the Vaca Muerta shale basin of Neuquén province.

YPF leads the development in partnership with Italy's Eni and the Emirati energy company XRG. The proposed EXIM financing would fund procurement of US goods and services for the project's infrastructure build-out and production activities, according to the bank.

The term sheet — an indicative, non-binding step short of a board-approved commitment — signals growing Washington interest in monetizing Vaca Muerta gas for Atlantic export, but the project itself has not reached a final investment decision.

EPC work already in motion

Contracting activity is moving ahead of FID. McDermott has secured an award covering engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning of a natural gas liquids fractionation and gas treatment facility within the Argentina LNG complex.

On the export pipeline system, US contractor Pumpco — a subsidiary of MasTec — is working with Italy's Bonatti and Argentina's Contreras Hnos. under an engineering and construction contract worth more than $1bn. That award remains contingent on the final investment decision, the companies' standard protection until shareholders commit capital.

The Argentina LNG scheme includes facilities for processing gas and preparing it for export, positioning Vaca Muerta output — currently constrained by domestic demand and limited takeaway capacity — for international markets.

Corridor framework expands US backing

EXIM announced the financing indication as the US and Argentina launched the Andes-Atlantic Corridor during the UN General Assembly High-Level Week in New York. The initiative aims to link Vaca Muerta with Atlantic ports through new and upgraded energy, transport, port and digital infrastructure — a logistics chain any large-scale LNG export plan from Neuquén will require.

The term sheet sits within a broader US financing push in Argentina. EXIM and the Argentine government have signed the US-Argentina Build the Future Framework, designed to provide up to $7bn in financing by 2027 for projects that expand infrastructure and productive capacity.

The US International Development Finance Corporation may participate alongside private-sector investors. Washington said its financing agencies and government departments would help prepare infrastructure transactions to international standards and incorporate trusted technology.

Delegation visit set for October

A US delegation drawn from the State Department, DFC and EXIM is scheduled to visit Buenos Aires, Jujuy and Salta in October 2026 to identify and advance transactions. Jujuy and Salta host Argentina's lithium operations in the northwestern salt flats, suggesting the framework reaches beyond hydrocarbons.

US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau is due to travel to Argentina later that month to discuss investment and economic growth with public and private-sector representatives.

For Argentina LNG, the financing path now runs in parallel: EXIM must convert its indicative term sheet into a binding commitment, and the YPF-led partnership must move the $51bn scheme through FID — the gate that activates the more-than-$1bn pipeline EPC award. Watch the FID timing and the conversion of the $6bn term sheet into EXIM board approval as the two markers that determine whether Vaca Muerta gas reaches Atlantic markets on schedule.