Vaca Muerta gas pipeline: work begins and contracts are signed with Massa’s presence

Economy Minister Sergio Massa will make his first foray into an Energy project on Wednesday. He will go to Salliqueló, a city in the province of Buenos Aires, where the gas pipeline from Vaca Muerta will arrive. Also at the game will be Flavia Royón, the new secretary of Energy.

The guest will be Agustín Gerez, president of Energía Argentina (the former Ieasa-Enarsa). The three will attend the signing of contracts for the construction of the gas pipeline and complementary works. It will be considered the starting point for machines to start digging. The government’s goal is for the pipeline to be ready by June 2023. If achieved, it would allow for a reduction in LNG imports. This year the country has had to pay very high prices for this gas, the price of which, like that of other energy products, has skyrocketed after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

According to private estimates, the greater gas transport capacity would allow fewer imports to be made. The savings would be $ 900 million in the first year. In this sense, the work, which will cost more than 1,500 million dollars, would be paid for with only two years of less import and consumption of more local gas.

Though There are several companies involved in the construction, Techint is the one that concentrates the greatest number of works. One of his companies, Siat, will take care of the supply of the tubes. And, in collaboration with Sacde, it will build sections 1, 3 and 4 of the pipeline.

The alliance between Techint and Sacde presented the lowest bids in three of the five sections. Esuco and BTU will keep a tranche each. With one particularity, BTU was the only bidder in one of the “lines”, as the different routes are called.

The first steps in the construction of the gas pipeline that will connect Vaca Muerta with Buenos Aires have generated a reaction in the producers of unconventional gas. Pampa Energía, Marcelo Mindlin’s company, will invest $ 220 million to increase the production of this fluid in the Neuquén formation.

Vaca Muerta hosts fields designated as the second most important in the world by specialists, producers have no way of extracting that gas.

Argentina consumes more than 170 million cubic meters (m3) of gas per day during the winter. Domestic production covers about three quarters of this amount. The rest comes with imports from Bolivia and liquid gas (LNG) ships. In both cases, the country pays between $ 25 and $ 50 per million BTU (the industry unit of measurement) for imported gas. Buying from local producers, they are paid around US $ 3.60.

Vaca Muerta’s expansion would increase local gas transportation capacity. Almost 11 million cubic meters per day can be mobilized from the Neuquén depot. The new work would double that capacity, to 22 million cubic meters per day.

By doubling the transportation capacity, Energy could contract out the purchase of an additional 11 million cubic meters.

A subsequent expansion of this line, to the north, could quadruple current gas production, reaching 42 million cubic meters per day.

The Néstor Kirchner pipeline consists of five sections. The last race was number four, in which Techint-Sacde asked to raise $ 47,239 million, while BTU requested $ 47,667 million. The original offers were higher, but those are the figures that are left with the discounts.

In section 3, the only one who applied is BTU, which has offered to raise $ 55.3 billion. The original budget for this 133-kilometer route was nearly $ 42,000 million.

Energía Argentina did not open the other offers available, because these were companies that had been disqualified in the selection process – that is, they did not meet the technical requirements – or had already won in the previous tranches, so they did not qualify now, according to the company’s criterion. state.

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The merger between Techint and Sacde will receive $ 61,227 million for the construction of 220 kilometers of pipelines “which extend from the connection to the TGS system (at the Tasayén air conditioning plant) up to kilometer 220 of the Gas Pipeline route, located in La Pampas “. It is “line 1”.

That duo also won “Line 2” of the pipeline. It is for the construction of another 220 kilometers of pipeline “which extend from kilometer 220 of the track in La Pampa to the 440 kilometer of the same province”. Techint offered $ 56.128 million, while BTU again requested a sum close to $ 80 billion.

Esuco, owned by Carlos Wagner, has been awarded “line 5”, corresponding to a compression plant at the head of the Mercedes-Cardales pipeline in the province of Buenos Aires. It is a secondary pipe that will be built into the TGS system. That carrier (TGS) offered to do the job, but their offer was not accepted. Esuco came out on top by offering nearly $ 11 billion, while BTU asked for nearly $ 17 billion.

BTU is Carlos Mundin’s construction company that participated in all sections of the competition. Mundin was jailed for five months and came out with a partial dismissal due to the “notebooks” case. Next to him they point out that the company is now in the hands of their son, but that he follows the entire process due to his “vast experience”.

Carlos Wagner (of Esuco) was president of the Chamber of Construction for most of the Kirchner period. He was imprisoned for 15 days and declared repentant. Wagner has also handed over the management of the company to his children, but remains with the company.

Hermanos Contreras’ alliance with Víctor Contreras has not been admitted until now. Techint, which appeared in the notebooks with dismissed officials, appeared for all sections together with Sacde, the construction company that belonged to Angelo Calcaterra as Iecsa and now belongs to the Pampa group, whose main shareholder is Marcelo Mindlin. Techint is the largest pipeline construction company in the region