Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica

Magallanes exists because the wind never stops—and that wind is now worth $12.5 billion. Chile's southernmost region, anchored by Punta Arenas at the Strait of Magellan, has been extracting value from this remote geography since oil fields developed in Tierra del Fuego from 1945. The Austral Basin holds 51% of the conventional proved natural gas reserves shared with Argentina. But petroleum is yesterday's resource. The International Energy Agency predicts global green hydrogen could reach $112 billion by 2030, and Magallanes' strong, consistent Patagonian winds make it what analysts call a 'Goldilocks place' for renewable hydrogen production. InvestChile's 2024 portfolio placed $12,514 million in Magallanes investments—second only to Antofagasta's mining—driven almost entirely by hydrogen projects. Both China and Western powers now eye this region as crucial to their energy ambitions, causing geopolitical tensions to flare in what was once the world's most remote corner. Meanwhile, Magallanes records Chile's lowest poverty at 5.8%, highest household income, and 5.6% GDP growth in 2024 (versus 2.6% national average). Tourism, sheep farming, and fishing persist alongside the energy transition. By 2026, Magallanes will either become the world's green hydrogen capital—exporting renewable energy to power European and Asian decarbonization—or remain another frontier promising transformation that never quite arrives. The region functions as an energy ecotone: petroleum, wind, and hydrogen occupying the same harsh landscape for fundamentally different futures.