Snapshot: The growth of Vaca Muerta's gas pipeline footprint

Pipeline capacity in Argentina is growing at a rapid pace as public and private sector players look to take advantage of output at the Vaca Muerta unconventional formation.

The largest project is the US$1.5bn first phase of the Néstor Kirchner pipeline, a 583km duct that will transport gas from Tratayén in Neuquén province to Salliqueló in Buenos Aires province. It is expected to come online in June, when the project's second section is due to be put out to tender.

But investments go much beyond the state-funded project. YPF and its partners plan pipeline investments totaling US$6.6bn to grow capacity around Vaca Muerta, the state-controlled oil and gas company's CEO Pablo Iuliano said at the Experiencia IDEA Energía seminar, according to local press.

The figure includes both oil and gas pipelines, such as the Oldeval capacity expansion, the Brandsen-Campana oil pipeline being developed by Oiltanking Ebytem, and the reactivation of the Otasa trans-Andean pipeline with Chile’s Enap, which is designed to allow direct connection with the neighboring country later this year.

In Vaca Muerta, YPF is working on a pipeline to the north, known as Tratayén-Puesto Hernández, which is expected to come online this year, and one to the south to connect the formation with the port of Punta Colorada in Río Negro province, allowing for extra export capacity. YPF is meant to tender construction of the latter later this year.

YPF is also working on small gas pipeline projects to connect different areas to the Néstor Kirchner duct.

The state company's overall share of these projects is 40%, with an investment of US$2.8bn. It is also overhauling its existing refineries to more easily process the light crude produced by Vaca Muerta.