Argentina has been buying gas from Bolivia since 2006. Less and less. And now it’s going to try to export to the plateau country, according to an official announcement.
The Minister of Economy, Sergio Masa, has agreed with the CAF, which is the Development Bank for Latin America, a plan of works for 540 million dollars which will be approved in March.
The money will go to pipeline construction “La Carlota-Tío Pujio, the inversion of the North and the compressor stations”, according to Massa.
The “North flip” involves using the pipeline infrastructure by which gas is brought in from Bolivia in the opposite direction. “This work will increase the supply of gas to the north of the country through Vaca Muerta and increase the possibilities of gas export volumes to Chile and Brazil,” according to the official announcement.
By the middle of the year, the gas pipeline that will connect Vaca Muerta with Buenos Aires should be operational. The government estimates that it will move forward in an extension to extend power lines and to connect with Brazil. Mercosur’s largest economy is a buyer of Bolivian gas. Argentina has the opportunity to place its production there.
Bolivia supplies both Argentina and Brazil, but priority goes to the Brazilians. Several studies indicate that the highland country has entered a phase of declining production, and so on it will have fewer and fewer exportable balances. At the same time, while the oil companies invest in Vaca Muerta, they find the Argentine fields greater production possibilities.
Companies get less gas from Vaca Muerta than they could. Because They have no carrying capacity, i.e. the ability to take it from Neuquén to the centers of consumption. The pipeline will solve this situation, as it will allow the transfer to Buenos Aires. The second part will involve progress towards Santa Fe and the provinces that connect with Brazil.
The infrastructure problem
The Energy Secretary, led by Flavia Royón, is in dialogue with the oil companies so that they invest more in gas production. And the companies are asking for infrastructural guarantees so that the gas obtained finds a destination. In this sense, any work that increases carrying capacity is usually well received by the industry.
The export of Argentine gas to Bolivia would not be destined for the consumption of that country, which still has its own reserves, but so that it arrives in Brazil once Bolivia runs out of exportable balance. That country could provide the infrastructure for Argentine production to reach Brazil, e appointed as intermediary.
Most companies have ambitious plans to grow in gas. The most awaited project is that of an LNG plant. YPF works with Petronas in that direction. A senior executive from that Malaysian firm was in Neuquén on Wednesday.
Vaca Muerta stores enough gas for Argentine consumption of that fluid for 100 years, according to specialists. This is why the future is linked to exports.
Brazil is a large energy consumer. In electricity, it is heavily dependent on hydraulic sources. This means a season of bad weather can put plants in difficulty. In this situation, they usually resort to Bolivian gas. The companies and the government are betting they will call Argentina when that happens.
The Argentinian idea is not to export gas only in the winter, but also in the summer. In Brazil, for its power plants. In the rest of the world, through LNG ships.
Marco Lavagna and Leonardo Madcur, representing the Ministry of Economy, attended the meeting in which it was defined that new gas pipelines will arrive. In addition to Royón, there were Agustín Gerez, president of ENARSA; Leandro Gorgal, Undersecretary for International Financial Relations for Development and the National Director for the Strategic Prioritization of External Financing, Mauro Conti.
Alongside the banks, the president and vice president of the CAF, Sergio Diaz Granados and Christian Asinelli took part; the representative of the CAF, Patricia Alborta; and Jorge Srur, Southern Regional Director of CAF
Source: Clarin
