Argentina’s Neuquén province courting Petrobras help to build gas pipeline

The governor of Argentina’s Neuquén province, Rolando Figueroa, hopes Brazil’s Petrobras will help to build a gas pipeline connecting the countries, he told reporters on Wednesday at the ROG.e conference in Rio de Janeiro. 

Neuquén is home to the prolific Vaca Muerta shale gas formation.

Figueroa said a new agreement between Brazil and Argentina [for the pipeline] is nearing conclusion and there is interest in building the duct. 

“We've had meetings with Petrobras, and the aim is for us to, hopefully, be able to count on them,” he said. 

In parallel, there are talks with Bolivia to use its existing gas transportation infrastructure to reach São Paulo state via the Gasbol (Bolivia-Brazil) pipeline. 

Another possibility is to export liquefied natural gas (LNG). 

“LNG is being bought for US$16 [per million BTU]. When we get ships up and running, it could reach Brazil more cheaply,” Figueroa said. 

The Neuquén governor highlighted that Vaca Muerta has gas reserves totaling 308Tf3 (trillion cubic feet), of which only 2Tf3/y are being consumed, by Argentina and Chile. 

“In the next 30 years, we will reach consumption of between 60 and 70Tf3/y,” he said.