Argentina signs contracts to build essential gas pipeline for Vaca Muerta

The Argentine President, Alberto Fernández, headed on Wednesday, August 10, the signing of the contracts for the construction of the “President Néstor Kirchner” gas pipeline, an essential work for the development of the Vaca Muerta unconventional hydrocarbon formation, located in the southwest of Argentina.

The work “will allow to increase the production and transportation of gas from Vaca Muerta to consumption centers and to substitute energy imports for US$2.2 billion a year”, said the Presidency through a press release.

President Fernández said during a ceremony held in the city of Salliqueló, some 520 kilometers southwest of Buenos Aires (the federal capital), that the construction works of the gas pipeline will generate 10,000 direct jobs and 40,000 indirect jobs and will be complete and operational as of June 2023.

“Public investment is needed for these projects to prosper. Today we are showing that it is not all the same and that there are times when the State must take the initiative and promote the necessary works,” he said.

Fernández was accompanied by the Governors of Buenos Aires, Axel Kicillof; of La Pampa, Sergio Ziliotto; of Neuquén, Omar Gutiérrez; and the Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa.

“Vaca Muerta today is becoming a leader in the production of hydrocarbons in Argentina, but it has no way to transport the gas and the fluid that is extracted; that is why this pipeline has the strategic role of turning it into a source of wealth for the Argentines and of the Argentines,” said Kicillof.

On his part, the Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa, assured that the project is part of the “enormous challenge” that implies that “that infinite amount of resources that we have as a country we transform into wealth for our nation and jobs for our people”.

The Presidency detailed that the President Néstor Kirchner gas pipeline will first extend 583 kilometers between the cities of Tratayén (Neuquén province, south) and Salliqueló (Buenos Aires province, center).

The second phase will extend from that municipality to San Jerónimo (Santa Fe province, east) and increase the transport capacity of the country’s trunk gas pipelines by 25 percent.

The project aims to increase gas availability at competitive prices for industry, commerce, homes, and export.

Vaca Muerta is an unconventional hydrocarbon formation located in Patagonia with an extension of 30,000 square kilometers, an area similar to that of Belgium.

It is the second-largest unconventional gas reserve in the world and the fourth-largest oil reserve. It is considered key by experts for Argentina, which aspires to stop importing energy and become a net exporter while improving its foreign currency income.

With information from Xinhua