Investments in Argentina’s Vaca Muerta shale play will hit record levels in 2022, and advances with key pipeline infrastructure projects — plus new government incentives — will ensure this trend continues, the governor of Neuquen province told a Rio Oil & Gas audience on Tuesday.

Investments in Vaca Muerta will reach $5.5 billion in 2022 and could reach $7 billion in 2023, Nequen Governor Omar Gutierrez said, but he added that full-scale development of the play would require capital expenditure of about $200 billion.