YPF announced a $ 1.2 billion investment to build the country’s largest oil exporting port

the state oil company YPF presented his project for construction of an oil pipeline between Vaca Muerta and the port of Punta Colorada of the Sierra Grande, in the province of Río Negro, where it will deploy a mega maritime terminal that will become the largest oil exporting port in the country.

The project transcended Thursday after the meeting held by the YPF president with provincial lawmakers who initiated the process for amending a provincial law that allows the construction of the pipeline and what will be the largest exporting port of crude oil. in Argentina.

The planned work will connect the oil exploitation of the Vaca Muerta formation in Neuquén with that port of Punta Colorada, in the Río Negro, through an oil pipeline, for the embarkation of production through offshore monobulls located about 6.7 kilometers from the coast.

In this context, it is estimated that through the Rio Negro port station, will be able to ship a ship every five days with a capacity of 390 thousand cubic metersstarting in 2025. In addition, they will have around 20 reserve tanks on around 250 coastal hectares.

From YPF, it is estimated that the pipeline will transport approximately 60 thousand cubic meters per day and will extend over approximately 700 kilometers of the Rio Negro territory and will require the hiring of no less than a thousand people directly and another three thousand indirectly.

It was also announced that the purchase and production of materials are currently underway, while the start of work on the first section between Vaca Muerta and Allen is scheduled for March next year.

As detailed, the managing director of YPF said that “the maritime station will be the largest exporting port of crude oil in Argentina” and stressed that the project, “it does not interfere at all with that of green hydrogen“.

It is estimated that around 100 people will be required directly for maintenance and operation and that the pipeline will require an investment of approximately $ 660 million.

In the meantime, the construction of the onshore station with 20 tanks and the offshore station with the two monoboe will involve an outlay of another 600 million dollars over two years.

The other Vaca Muerta pipeline

The government’s goal is that the Néstor Kirchner gas pipeline, from Vaca Muerta to Saliqueló, in the province of Buenos Aires, is 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.

Although there are several companies involved in the construction, Techint is the one that concentrates the largest number of works. One of its companies, Siat, will take care of the supply of the pipes. 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 on 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.

With information from the Télam Agency

DB