Argentina

Index rank 28

Energy Sustainability Index Rankings

 2010  2011  2012  Trend
Energy Performance  15  8  22 
Energy Security  22  12  35 
Social Equity  19  20  17 
Environmental Impact Mitigation  27  27  30 
       
Contextual Performance  64  64  63 
Political Strength  69  74  66 
Societal Strength  54  54  53 
Economic Strength  58  54  60 
       
Overall Rank  24  19  28 
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Fossil Fuel Resources

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Key Metrics

Industrial sector (% of GDP) 30.7
TPEP / TPEC  (net energy exporter) 1.06
Emission intensity (kg CO2 per USD) 1.43
Energy affordability (USD per kWh) 0.02
GDP / capita (PPP, USD); GDP Group 15,901 (B)
Energy intensity (million BTU per USD) 0.03
CO2 emissions (metric tons) / capita) 4.24
Population Access to Electricity (%) 97.2
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Index Commentary

Argentina overall drops by nine places to rank 28. This was triggered by a weaker energy security score driven by a substantial decrease of the wholesale margin on gasoline and a slightly weaker ratio of total primary energy production to consumption. Better performance in social equity is driven by small improvements across all indicators. Argentina experiences a small drop in environmental impact mitigation, despite reductions in energy intensity per capita. Overall, Argentina struggles most with its contextual dimensions. The 75/25 Index weighting regime however means that rather low contextual scores, both absolute and relative, have limited impact if the energy performance dimensions are stronger compared to peer countries.

Trends and Outlook

Argentina, although positioned relatively high in the Index, still faces major challenges and is expected to further drop in the rankings. With the current energy policy of low prices for producers and high subsidies to consumers continues, there is little chance to revert the decline production. Oil production declined by 30% since 1998, while natural gas production declined by 8% since 2006. As a consequence, Argentina, previously a net energy exporter in 2006 with a surplus of USD6 billion, turned to be a net energy importer in 2011 with a deficit of USD3 billion. The lack of investment in all energy sectors has become a major challenge, further intensified by the nationalisation of YPF (expropriation of Repsol shares in Argentina’s biggest oil company), where the new management is struggling to attract new investors which are necessary to exploit the large reserves of unconventional oil and natural gas in Argentina. Policymakers urgently need to focus on restoring the energy markets and attracting a great deal of investment by implementing clear and stable rules and regulations.

Notes

1) Data for shale gas resources not available; 2) Data for shale oil is for resources in place; 3) TPEP/TPEC is based on 2009 data; as of 2011 Argentina is a net importer;