Billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel has acquired a 1% stake in Vista, a major oil producer operating in Argentina’s Vaca Muerta shale formation. According to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing published Friday, Thiel’s hedge fund, Thiel Macro LLC, purchased approximately 1.2 million American Depositary Shares in the company. The investment is valued at roughly $76 million.
The disclosure follows a meeting four months ago between Thiel and Argentine President Javier Milei at the Casa Rosada presidential palace. Milei told local media that the two discussed economic policies and the president's opposition to wealth taxes. Additionally, local media reported that Thiel recently purchased a residence in Buenos Aires.
Vista is a significant player in the Vaca Muerta region, which contains the world’s second-largest shale gas and fourth-largest oil reserves. The company currently produces 160,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day and has invested more than $6.5 billion in the country. In May, Vista increased its production and investment forecasts for the formation, which is located in the Neuquen province of Patagonia.
For the Argentine government, the investment coincides with efforts to attract foreign capital to the Patagonia region. President Milei has proposed utilizing the region’s climate and land for data center development. Such projects have faced challenges elsewhere in Latin America due to their intensive consumption of water and electricity, though it is not yet reported if Thiel's investment in an energy firm is directly tied to future data center infrastructure.
Investors and market analysts will monitor the impact of this high-profile entry into the Argentine energy market. The SEC filing showed Thiel Macro LLC holds a total portfolio of $418.7 million, with other holdings including Amazon and several utility firms like American Electric Power and DTE Energy. The investment comes as Vista continues to expand its footprint in a shale formation roughly the size of Belgium, following its May announcement to raise production targets.
Thiel Macro LLC’s portfolio also includes stakes in Vistra, FirstEnergy, CMS Energy, and X-Energy. The specific date the shares were purchased was not reported in the filing, though the disclosure was made public on Friday, August 14. The investment aligns with Milei’s stated goals of reducing wealth taxes and encouraging large-scale energy and technology projects in Argentina.