They waive a tender for the purchase of imported LNG

The Secretary of Energy has decided to declare “Deserted” a tender in which he tried to buy 4 LNG ships. Energía Argentina is the company that has the task of calling the certification and selecting the offers, which are then transferred to Energía. The offers received by Energía Argentina were for LNG, which it was they ranged from US $ 40 to US $ 50 per million BTUs (the unit of measurement of the sector), above what the Executive is willing to pay.

Therefore, the tender was declared “void” e there are no prospects for a new execution. The price offered by traders to Argentina it was more than $ 50in some cases, constituting a record amount that the Government did not want to validate.

Argentina so far bought 41 boats or “charges” as they are called in the industry. The majority (27) went to the Escobar regasification plant, while 14 went to Bahía Blanca. The expenditure committed so far is close to 3,000 million dollars.

Argentina paid $ 39 per million BTUs during the first ship purchase in March. It was when the Russian invasion of Ukraine caused all energy prices to rise.

Russia was Europe’s largest gas supplier. The decision by European countries to stop buying from the Ukrainian invader has pushed the price of LNG (and other energy products) to record highs. In 2021, LNG was $ 8 per million BTU. This year it reached $ 40 and now the government has been offered for $ 50. The high prices are also reflected in the purchase of diesel, which was tackled by both Cammesa (for electricity generation due to the lack of gas) and YPF, for the disappeared

Even the departure of Russia strengthened the exporting role of the United States, Qatar and Australia. Gazprom of Russia submitted offers to Energía Argentina, but its offers were never selected.

After paying US $ 39 in March, the government has consistently achieved lower prices in the following claims.

In March, bought 8 ships for $ 791 million. Already in April, Energía Argentina managed to pay 29 dollars, when it acquired 9 expenses for 665 million dollars.

The biggest purchase was in May, when the price offered averaged $ 25 per million BTUs. There, Energía Argentina acquired 12 ships for $ 733 million.

In June, less than $ 25 was paid for 11 other expenses, with an outlay of $ 636 million. That’s half of what traders wanted to charge the country now, just a month after the deal.

counts the country more than a quarter of the gaIt is consumed in winter, both through ships (which carry liquid gas) and through Bolivia. Although the country is a gas producer, theBusinesses face a bottleneck at Vaca Muerta. They can’t get the gas they would get, because there is no way to transport it.

To alleviate this situation, the government is carrying out the tender for a gas pipeline linking Vaca Muerta with Buenos Aires. It should be ready by June 2023. The supply of the pipes has been awarded to a Techint company, while tenders for the construction of civil works are now underway.

the pipeline it would allow companies to increase gas production. If they could send it to other production centers, the need for imports would be reduced.