Argentina's Vaca Muerta shale oil and gas boom is destroying more jobs than it creates, according to analysis in Buenos Aires Herald. The shift reveals a structural problem in the industry's new operational model, where automation and efficiency gains are displacing workers faster than new positions emerge.

Argentina has opened 15 new exploration blocks in the Vaca Muerta Shale formation to international and domestic energy companies, more than double the previous provincial auction, as global energy markets reassess supply chain vulnerabilities exposed by Middle East conflict.