[14] Although the name Vaca Muerta Formation was introduced to the geological literature in 1931 by American geologist Charles E. Weaver, the highly bituminous shales in the Salado River valley in southern Mendoza were described in 1892 by Dr. Guillermo Bodenbender.

[15] In several outcrop locations, the Vaca Muerta Formation has been the site of paleontological finds: the crocodylomorph Cricosaurus and possibly Geosaurus, the ichthyosaur Caypullisaurus, and the pterosaurs Herbstosaurus and Wenupteryx.

The Vaca Muerta Formation represents the most distal facies of the Lower Mendoza Mesosequence, a Tithonian–Valanginian broad shallowing-upward sedimentary cycle.

[20][21] Westward the Vaca Muerta Formation includes slope facies (Huncal Member), and in the Chilean territory pass into shallow marine/volcanic deposits.

[28] The Vaca Muerta Shale had long been known as a major petroleum source rock for other formations in the Neuquén Basin, which has had oil production since 1918.

This team screened all Argentine source rock formations and proposed Vaca Muerta as principal objective given that logistics were easier and it held greater potential.

As part of the visualization the logistics required to develop the assets were investigated with the need for importation of drilling rigs and fracturing equipment being identified together with an opportunity for ín-country proppant sand production.

In November 2010, the company completed a tight oil well in the Vaca Muerta Shale in the Loma Campana area.

The higher gas prices attracted major oil companies, including ExxonMobil, Total S.A.,[40] and Chevron Corporation to Vaca Muerta.

[41] In May 2013, YPF announced that it had negotiated a joint venture in which Chevron would invest US$1.5 billion drilling 132 wells on the Loma Campana field.

"[49] On February 18 of the same year, YPF announced that it had signed an memorandum of understanding with PETRONAS, the Malaysian state oil company, on a possible investment (agreed upon in the following August; see below) in the 187 square kilometer Amarga Chica zone of the Vaca Muerta formation; YPF also indicated that its current production in Vaca Muerta was over 20,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day from over 150 fracked wells using 19 fracking drill rigs.

[51] In an interview with the Argentine newspaper La Nación published September 14, 2014, Gallucio indicated that production in the Loma Campana field had reached 31,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day.

[52] On October 8, 2014, Argentine Industry Minister Débora Georgi reported that YPF had signed a confidential agreement in principle with Gazprom that could lead to a US$1 billion investment in gas exploration and production "in Argentina".

[54] In April 2015, Gallucio stated that production in the Loma Campana field had reached 44,000-45,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day.

[58] In November 2015, YPF indicated that production from Vaca Muerta was 54,000 barrels of oil equivalent daily, with 47,000 from Loma Campana; it also indicated that Chevron had invested US$2,500,000,000 over the last two years.

[65] Consortium of Shell (65%, operator) Medanito (25%) and Gas y Petroleo del Neuquén (10%) develops Águila Mora and Sierras Blancas areas.

[67] Apache Corporation was active in the Vaca Muerta in 2012–2013,[7] but agreed to sell all its Argentine assets to YPF for US$800 million in an agreement signed February 12, 2014.

YPF indicated in July 2015 that it planned to drill 20 wells in Bandurria Sur with the goal of beginning shale oil production within three years at a cost of US$282.2 million.

[73] In January 2016, Aubrey McClendon's American Energy Partners, LP, and YPF announced a preliminary agreement for the development of two more blocks, at a cost of over US$500 million in the next three years: Bajada de Añelo and the southern zone of Cerro Arena, the latter together with Pluspetrol and Gas y Petróleo del Neuquén; an affiliate of American Energy Partners would acquire up to a 50% participation in both.

[76] In July 2013, protests against the ratification of the YPF-Chevron US$16 billion agreement to exploit the Loma Campana concession were heavily repressed by the police.