Fracking has turned the quiet town of Añelo into a buzzing hub of activity. Once a sleepy place about 1,000km from Buenos Aires, Añelo lacked basic amenities like steady electricity and was a tiny dot in Argentina’s vast landscape. Mechanic Fabio Javier Jiménez remembers how his family’s tyre repair shop was once on the edge of town — “in the middle of sand dunes,” he says. But when fracking for oil and gas started in 2014 in Vaca Muerta, the sleepy town woke up fast. Thanks to booming energy activity, Añelo’s population shot up by over 60%, from about 10,788 in 2010 to nearly 18,000 in 2022. Every weekday, 15,000 workers flood the town, making the roads packed with vehicles and hundreds of lorries rumbling by, many carrying oil. Mr. Jiménez’s tyre shop now serves dozens of vehicles daily — a far cry from the two cars he used to fix years ago. Vaca Muerta is a gigantic 30,000 sq km oil and gas field, discovered long ago in 1931 but only unlocked when Argentina legalized fracking in 2014. This method blasts water, sand, and chemicals underground to crack rocks and release trapped oil and gas. The first big fracking project combined forces between Argentina’s state oil firm YPF and the US giant Chevron. By early 2024, over 3,300 wells were active in Vaca Muerta, producing more than half of Argentina’s oil and gas. Experts like Nicolás Gadano, chief economist at Empiria, highlight that it’s cheaper to pump oil here than in other older, harder-to-reach fields. Nicolás Gandini at Econojournal agrees that conventional oil in Argentina is usually 3 to 4 times more expensive than fracking in Vaca Muerta. This energy treasure has flipped Argentina’s energy scene. Once a nation plagued by shortages and costly imports, it now exports oil and gas, earning billions in foreign currency. Mr. Gadano points out that last year, Argentina made a $6 billion surplus from energy trade and expects similar figures despite price drops globally. However, it’s not all sunshine and roses. Mr. Gandini warns: “I think there is an overrepresentation of the value that Vaca Muerta can bring to solving the structural problems facing the Argentine economy.” While energy shines as a dollar-maker, Argentina still struggles with inflation, debt, and heavy spending. Agriculture and mining have lagged, meaning Vaca Muerta can’t carry the country alone. Investors are also nervous. Argentina’s poor credit rating and strict currency controls have “held back” the full power of Vaca Muerta. Mr. Gadano explains companies “make money but have to reinvest it there by force,” without access to dollars, which big players don’t like. Although President Javier Milei’s government eased currency rules for individuals recently, restrictions on companies remain but could change soon. On top of financial hurdles, Vaca Muerta faces infrastructure woes: not enough pipelines, rough roads, and no railway links. Yet, the political scene mostly backs the oil and gas boom, creating a rare consensus. Mr. Gadano notes, “All the relevant political forces agree that this is an industry that needs to grow.” But this consensus sidelines environmental voices. Fernando Cabrera from the group Observatorio Petrolero Sur complains, “We are really losing in the public debate,” pointing out government support overwhelms opposition. Back in Añelo, life has changed dramatically since fracking arrived. Mr. Jiménez has doubled his business but remains cautious: “Yes there will surely be oil and gas for many years to come, but that does not mean that Argentina will not continue to experience economic and political ups and downs.” So while Añelo thrives as Argentina’s fracking heart, the country’s bigger puzzle remains — can Vaca Muerta’s black gold truly fix a struggling national economy?