Under Argentina’s federal constitution and jurisprudence, the provincial governments play a prominent role in the development and management of the country’s substantial energy resources. As a result, the outcomes of local elections in Argentine provinces with large oil and natural gas reserves are consequential for energy and energy service companies, with no provincial election more important than yesterday’s in the province of Neuquén, where the rich Vaca Muerta formation is located. In addition to Argentina’s YPF, energy companies with interests in the Vaca Muerta include Chevron, ExxonMobil, Pan American Energy, Petrobras, Shell and Total.
The Neuquén Popular Movement (Movimiento Popular Neuquino, MPN) has held the governorship in Neuquén since Argentina’s return to democracy in 1983. The MPN is far and away Argentina’s most successful provincial party (i.e., a party that competes electorally in only one of the country’s 23 provinces). The MPN’s gubernatorial candidate this cycle was Omar Gutiérrez, 47, who was backed by the current governor, Jorge Sapag (2007- ), who could not seek reelection due to term limits. Last November, Gutiérrez defeated former MPN governor Jorge Sobisch (1991-95, 1999-2007) in the MPN party primary election. Gutiérrez has been the provincial minister of economy and public works since 2011. He previously served as president of the Bank of the Province of Neuquén (2005-11) and, prior to that, in a variety of other executive and legislative posts in the province.
Gutiérrez faced two principal rivals in his gubernatorial bid. Ramón Rioseco, the mayor of the city of Cutral-Có, was the candidate of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s Front for Victory (FPV). Horacio “Pechi” Quiroga, the mayor of the provincial capital city of Neuquén, was the candidate of an alliance, the New Neuquén Commitment (NCN), between Quiroga’s Radical Civic Union (UCR) and the Federal Proposal (PRO), a party whose national leader is presidential candidate Mauricio Macri.
On April 26, the MPN’s Gutiérrez was elected governor of Neuquén with 41 percent of the valid vote, 10 percent ahead of the FPV’s Rioseco (31 percent) and 20 percent more than the NCN’s Quiroga (21 percent). Neuquén has a unicameral provincial legislature with 35 members. Pending the official vote canvass, the MPN won 12 seats and MPN-allied parties that supported Gutiérrez’s candidacy won an additional 3, for a total of 15. While this number is three short of an absolute majority, given the dispersion of the remaining 20 seats among a dozen parties (some more institutionalized than others), this result should not be seen as a legislative impediment to Governor-elect Gutiérrez’s future ability to successfully implement his policy program and govern effectively.
Gutiérrez will assume office on December 10. Under his leadership we should expect to see a high level of continuity in provincial energy policy, with the policies adopted and implemented under Governor Sapag by and large continuing under Governor-elect Gutiérrez. With a few exceptions, the MPN has a long and successful track record of adopting a very pragmatic position regarding its interaction with the national government; whatever the political leanings of the president. Over the past eight years, Governor Sapag has maintained a good working relationship with the FPV government of President Fernández de Kirchner. And, regardless of whether the victor in this year’s presidential election is the PRO’s Mauricio Macri, the Renewal Front’s Sergio Massa or the FPV’s Daniel Scioli, it is very likely that Governor-elect Gutiérrez will develop and maintain a similarly good working relationship with the next Argentine president, who will take office on December 10.
Mark P. Jones is the Baker Institute’s fellow in political science, as well as the Joseph D. Jamail Chair in Latin American Studies and chair of the Department of Political Science at Rice University.
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