(Reuters) - Argentine national oil company YPF swung to a loss in the third quarter, hurt by lower local fuel prices and higher operating costs, the company said on Wednesday,
The result was significantly behind analyst expectations.
Net loss in the period totaled $137 million, compared with a $693 million profit in the prior-year third quarter, and missing an LSEG-compiled analyst forecast for a net profit of around $175 million.
The state-run producer's revenue fell about 16% to $4.5 billion during the July-to-September period, due in part to a drop in local fuel prices in dollars, YPF said in a statement.
In August, Argentina froze fuel prices in a bid to tame surging triple-digit inflation.
Operating costs grew 11% year-on-year, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), or core earnings, slid 37% to $992 million for the quarter.
The loss comes despite the steady uptick in production from western Argentina's massive Vaca Muerta shale formation, one of the biggest in the world.
YPF said total oil and gas production increased 3% in the third quarter, with crude output up 5.4%.
The company added that its north Vaca Muerta pipeline should be fully operational this month, and that its ramp-up will likely be gradual and kick off early next year.
YPF shares closed down 1%.
In September, a U.S. judge ruled that Argentina must pay about $16 billion to minority shareholders of YPF arising from the government's 2012 seizure of a majority stake in the company.
At the time, the government of Argentina, which is in dire financial straits marked by scarcity of foreign exchange reserves, pledged an immediate appeal.