Germany's Wintershall and the local unit of France's Total plan to invest $2.1 billion over the next five years in Argentina to increase natural gas production, the Argentine government said.
Company officials met with Argentine President Cristina Fernandez to formalize the investment commitments agreed to with a government commission that aims to encourage spending in the oil and gas sector in order to boost output.
Last year, Argentina seized a controlling stake in energy company YPF from Repsol, arguing the Spanish energy company had failed to carry out pledged investments. At the time, a spokesman at Wintershall said the company was unfazed.
Total Austral, the local unit of Total, will invest $1.1 billion in the coming years while Wintershall, the oil and gas arm of chemicals group BASF, will spend $1.0 billion, the Argentine government said in a statement on the presidential website.
The investment will translate into a 3.1 percent annual increase in the injection of gas from 2013-17.
Argentina has faced an energy crunch in recent years with private investment in exploration and production lagging behind robust growth in demand. This imbalance has cut into the country's trade surplus and threatened to diminish foreign currency reserves, which the government uses to pay debt.
Fernandez hailed the announcement as another step toward achieving energy self-sufficiency in Argentina.
