Rome, 3 March 2026 – ReCommon is launching a petition today targeting SACE, calling on the Italian export credit agency not to contribute to the destruction of a stretch of coastline in northern Patagonia by providing financial support to Argentina LNG. Among other things, the project involves the installation of six floating liquefaction units (FNLGs) in the unspoilt San Matías Gulf, two of which will be built by ENI, with SACE guaranteeing the operation with public money.
The six floating units will receive gas to be converted into liquid gas form for export from the immense Vaca Muerta field, located in the western Argentine provinces of Neuquén, Río Negro, Pampa and Mendoza, the world’s second largest shale gas reserve. The initiative is led by YPF, Argentina’s main oil and gas company, which is controlled by the state.
The gas from Vaca Muerta is mainly produced through fracking, an ultra-invasive practice that requires large amounts of water and the use of chemicals, thereby increasing the risk of hydrocarbon pollution of aquifers. The entire Argentina LNG project, including both extraction and processing for export, is expected to cost around $50 billion.
The communities of the San Matías Gulf live in symbiosis with the sea, from which they have drawn their livelihood for decades, but it is precisely this unique ecosystem that is at risk due to the potential increase in maritime traffic and pollution caused by FLNG vessels. At the southern end of the Gulf lies the Valdés Peninsula, a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to the presence of various marine species, including the southern right whale. The area where the six floating gas units are to be located corresponds precisely to the cetacean’s migratory routes.
«I want to say to the financiers of this project: go home. We want to continue living with the sea, which is alive and which we want to defend it», said Raquel Perrier, a marine biologist living in the area affected by the FLNG vessels.
«I ask those who want to finance Argentina LNG to look at and feel the San Matías Gulf as we who live here look at and feel it: it is our home, we have a bond of love that unites us, it gives us food and work. It is not a place to be filled with polluting ships. We want it to stay blue forever, and we will defend it whenever anyone puts it at risk», added Fabricio Di Giacomo of Multisectorial Golfo San Matías, an assembly created to defend the gulf.
In an economically fragile country like Argentina, it is almost impossible for a private company, ENI in the specific case, to move forward without strong public support. This is where export credit agencies such as SACE, controlled by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, come into play. It is worth remembering that the main activity of these agencies is the issuance of guarantees, a sort of public insurance: if things go wrong, SACE reimburses the companies or the banks that have lent capital to the companies for their foreign investments. In both cases, it does so with public money. For many years, SACE’s operations in Argentina proceeded at a snail’s pace, but the political affinity between Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Argentine President Javier Milei has contributed enormously to reversing this trend.
«It is SACE’s operations that make Italy the leading public financier of the fossil fuel industry in Europe and the fourth largest globally. However, it is not just about the climate: the protection of human rights and the problematic use of public resources are also at stake. It is a real gamble with people’s lives. The agency and the Italian government have the opportunity to reverse course, starting by not financially supporting Argentina LNG», said Simone Ogno of ReCommon.
