Javier Milei, the newly elected president of Argentina, has announced his plans to privatize YPF, a state-owned oil company. It is rumored that Horacio Marin, the head of exploration and production at Tecpetrol, will be taking over as CEO of YPF.

Marin is not a politician but an expert in the field. He has been working at Tecpetrol for 35 years and was previously managing the exploration and production area for the past 13 years. Marin holds a chemical engineering degree from the University of La Plata and a master’s degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Texas, as well as a postgraduate degree from Stanford.

Marin has been collaborating with the technical teams of La Libertad Avanza led by Nicolás Posse since he joined Javier Milei’s space team. He is known for being pragmatic and direct when it comes to leadership and is considered a confidant of Paolo Rocca, the leader of Techint.

If Marin takes command of YPF, he would be unifying the positions of president and CEO once again after they were separated during the administrations of Mauricio Macri and Alberto Fernández. He would also need to develop a more political profile and address issues such as ending the gasoline price freeze and dealing with cheaper “criollo” barrel compared to international prices.