Oil industry: Argentina makes biggest discovery for 20 years

The Argentinean oil industry has made its biggest discovery in two decades.

YPF, the country's biggest company when measured by value, has announced it has discovered the equivalent of 150 million barrels of shale oil.

The find was located in a field in southern Patagonia and is the country's largest oil discovery for 20 years, as well as being the equivalent of 35 per cent of YPF's oil reserves and six per cent of the country's general oil reserves.

YPF chief executive Sebastian Eskenazi made the announcement in a televised speech.

"The important thing about this ... is the fact that this is new energy," he said.

It is now planning to install an additional 17 oil wells and fracture 14 that already exist at the site to extract the oil in a non-conventional exploitation process.

The announcement comes after the Argentinean oil industry was forced to import more fuel to meet the country's needs.