(ADN).- The president of YPF, Horacio Marín, assured that if the governor of the province of Buenos Aires, Axel Kicillof, does not adhere to the Incentive Regime for Large Investors (RIGI), the Liquefied Natural Gas plant ( LNG) that the company plans to build with Petronas, will be installed in Río Negro.
Marín was on the LN+ and warned: “Without the RIGI there is no LNG.” In this way, the executive became involved in the dispute between Kicillof, who supports the original project for the plant to be located in Bahía Blanca, and his Rio Negro counterpart, Alberto Weretilneck, who advocates for its transfer to Punta Colorada.
According to the Base Law, which is expected to be ratified – with some changes – by Deputies, it states that the RIGI must be signed by the provinces once the framework law is in place. Marín assumes that due to the criticism of the Regime that the Buenos Aires native raised, his Parliament will not adhere, and warns that this is a sine qua non condition for the landing of foreign currency.
“In order for them to put those billions of dollars in Argentina and not in another country, they needed it to be profitable at low prices. Without RIGI, at $8 per million BTU, it was not profitable. Therefore, those capitals did not come to Argentina,” he said and added: “We sent an official letter to Kicillof and Weretilneck that has three points that are economic incentives for the project and four points of help in permits. “They are going to answer.”
Likewise, suggesting an advantage for Punta Colorada over Bahía Blanca, he indicated that “Gustavo Gallino, who is the engineer who built the Néstor Kirchner Gasduct in record time, came to work with me as vice president of infrastructure. He now found an advantage to see where to make the gas pipelines and in what places and savings for the project.”
“I don’t rule out anyone,” he said when asked about his inclination. However, he clarified: “Obviously they have to adhere to the RIGI. If they don’t, the discussion is over. There is no need to discuss anything, it will go to the province that joins the RIGI. It’s obvious, who is going to put up the money if not?”
In that sense, Marín remarked that “when we say where it is most profitable, the people from YPF who work in LNG are going to get together with the people from Petronas and, once the decision is made, I am going to personally go with each one of them. The governors, I’m going to show you the numbers and then I’m going to make it public. It is the procedure and everyone knows it, no one is playing strange here.”
