Argentina
Figueroa questioned Prat Gay over his criticism of Vaca Muerta’s impact in Neuquén
The Neuquén governor rejected the idea that hydrocarbon growth is not reaching the rest of the provincial economy. His response was shared by Javier Milei and was accompanied by a report from Fundación Mediterránea.
The governor of Neuquén, Rolando Figueroa, pushed back against Alfonso Prat Gay after the former minister said that the Vaca Muerta boom has still not translated into a broad improvement in the provincial economy.
According to reconstructions by Infobae and Clarín, the dispute began after an interview Prat Gay gave to Ahora Play, in which he said he had visited SMEs and other sectors in Neuquén, although he clarified that he did not make it to Añelo. Based on that visit, he said he did not perceive a climate of generalized expansion despite the growth in oil and gas activity.
Prat Gay pointed out that Neuquén was the only province where employment grew since Javier Milei took office, but said that data did not match the mood he picked up on his visits. He also distinguished between the situation of oil operators and that of SMEs, commerce and other sectors, and summed up his view with the idea that growth “has not yet spilled over.”
Figueroa responded on social media with a message in which he rejected that diagnosis and questioned that the analysis had been made without thoroughly touring the province. In that post, he also invited the former official to a future joint visit through Neuquén territory. The governor’s message was shared by Milei.
As support for his position, Figueroa circulated a study by Fundación Mediterránea. According to Infobae and Clarín, the report presents Neuquén as the clearest case of growth with “broad spillover,” arguing that not only oil and gas are advancing, but also other tradable goods and the rest of the province’s economic activities.
Clarín added that the study was prepared by IERAL of Fundación Mediterránea and compared the evolution between 2023 and 2025 of formal private payroll mass adjusted for inflation in different provinces linked to export sectors.
Prat Gay, for his part, acknowledged that his tour was a limited sample, although he insisted on taking Neuquén as a reference to assess the effects of one of the sectors the national government presents among the winners of its economic program.
Sources
About this note. Written by El Notero with assistance from artificial intelligence, based on what was published by the cited outlet. El Notero did not do its own reporting on this fact.
