Argentina to expand Vaca Muerta gas pipeline transport capacity

Argentina has secured a US$185mn loan from Central American development bank Cabei to help pay for four additional turbo-compressors of 15,000HP each for its Vaca Muerta gas pipeline project.

Argentina has been a non-regional member of Cabei since 1995.

The total cost of the turbo-compressor work is US$200mn, project owner state energy firm Energía Argentina said in a statement. Work will ramp-up compression from 30,000HP originally planned to 90,000HP. 

Funds are earmarked for an additional unit at each endpoint of the first phase, in Tratayén, Neuquén province, and Salliqueló, Buenos Aires province, respectively. Each endpoint is already getting a 15,000HP turbo-compressor, work that is underway and expected to conclude this half. The Tratayén project was awarded to Sacde and Salliqueló to Contreras Hermanos-Esuco.

Engineers will also install two two turbo-compressors, part way along the pipeline, in Chacharramendi, La Pampa province.

The first phase entered service this quarter, with initial capacity of 11Mm3/d (million cubic meters per day). Following the installation of the original turbo-compressors, capacity will climb to 21Mm3/d. With the additional works, capacity will reach 30Mm3/d, Energía Argentina said.

A second phase of the pipeline is on the drawing boards. Officials in the cash-strapped nation are seeking possible financing options for the project, expected to cost several billion dollars.

An Energía Argentina spokesperson was not immediately available for comment when contacted by BNamericas for further details  

A central objective of the overall gas pipeline initiative is substituting a significant chunk of expensive LNG and liquid fuel imports and supporting the development of a firm year-round exporting industry. Officials recently launched a tender for an associated flow-reversal project that will support the dispatch of Neuquén basin gas to Argentina’s north.

In related midstream news, state-controlled energy firm YPF expects to cut the ribbon in September on a US$250mn, 150km pipeline – Vaca Muerta Norte – designed to feed oil into the Otasa duct which carries crude to a Chilean oil refinery. Capacity of Vaca Muerta Norte, which starts at YPF shale acreage La Amarga Chica in Neuquén province, is 25,000m3/d, or around 155,000b/d.

Given Vaca Muerta Norte capacity is greater than that of Otasa, some oil will be directed to YPF refinery Luján de Cuyo, Mendoza province, state news agency Télam reported.

Dispatch capacity of the Otasa pipeline, brought back into service in May, is 110,000b/d, currently restricted to 70,000b/d on account of demand, a YPF 2Q23 results presentation said. Associated exports were 550,000b (around 6,000b/d) in Q2, which are expected to rise this half once Vaca Muerta Norte enters service.