The oil company Pan American Energy (PAE) He confirmed today that he will add up Argentina will have the capacity to export 27 million cubic meters per day (m3/d) natural gas, equivalent to 18% of current total production.
The two ships will be located In the Gulf San Matías, between the Sierra Grande and San Antonio Oeste cities, in Río Negro. It is the same place where the terminal to export oil will also be lifted.
Pae and Golar LNG constituted the company, Southern Energywhich was in charge of the announcement. In recent months, other oil companies were buying participation of this new company, which is currently composed of PAE (30%), YPF (25%), Pampa Energía (20%), Harbor Energy (15%) and Golar LNG (10%).
“Southern Energy and Golar LNG signed an agreement for 20 years for the installation of a second liquefaction ship in the San Matías Gulf, province of Río Negro, which will produce liquefied natural gas for export markets”, Says the statement.
The second liquefaction is called MKII and is under construction in a shipyard in China. It is estimated that it will arrive in the country in 2028 and the beginning of the commercial operation would be at the end of that year. The ship will have a production capacity of 3.5 million tons per year (MTPA) of LNG, equivalent to almost 16 million m3/d natural gas.
The first LNG ship, called Hilli episeyowill arrive in the country in early 2027, and will have a production capacity of 2.45 MTPA of LNG, equivalent to 11.5 million m3/d gas.
Together, they will have a production capacity of 6 MTPA GNL, which is equivalent to exporting 18% of national production in winter (150 million m3/d).
“The company provides that the two floating terminals of liquefaction can operate all year for which The construction of a gas pipeline between Vaca Muerta and the San Matías Gulf will be required”, They said
“With the signing of this agreement, Southern Energy meets the first phase of Argentina LNG, a project that plans to have the participation of the entire industry, and whose objective is to turn Argentina into a LNG exporting country through different stages over the next few years. LNG exports will begin in 2027 with the start of the operation of the Episeyo Hilli, ”they added.
The Southern Energy company also reported that it advanced with the final investment decision (FID) related to the installation of the Episeyo Hilli, with which confirmed an investment close to US $ 7000 million throughout the 20 years Operation throughout the value chain. This, in turn, will allow further additional development investments in Vaca Muerta.
-The project, which submitted its application for accession to the Incentive regime for large investments (Rigi)already has the LNG free export authorization certificate for a period of 30 years, granted this week by the Ministry of Energy. The environmental impact study by the province of Río Negro has also approved.
“The installation of the two liquefaction ships in Río Negro will favor the creation of employment, the development of local suppliers, the introduction of new productive and technological processes and It will generate exports of products that are currently not exported in international marketsaccessing new export destinations, ”they said.
In an international context that changed after the largest gas exporter to Europe, Russia, invaded Ukrainecountries seek to diversify their energy sources and ensure supply. In this framework, Argentina has the opportunity to offer gas surpluses generated by Vaca Muerta. It is a very competitive market, in which few economies have the necessary facilities to convert natural gas to liquid. Today is led by Australia, Qatar, the United States, Russia and Malaysia.
While YPF’s original idea was to build a liquefaction plant in the town of Sierra Grande, in Río Negro, this plan turned in the installation of LNG ships. The oil company said the ultimate goal remains the same: that Argentina export 30 MTPA, equivalent to 141 million m3/d natural gas by 2030.
This means doubling the current production of the country and Increase Argentine exports by US $ 15,000 million in five years.
The acquisition of LNG ships offers several advantages with respect to the construction of the plant on land. On the one hand, It gives greater flexibility to the export project, because it allows you to climb little by little. Besides, is easier to financesince only building the plant would imply paying at least US $ 3000 million.
“Before it was uncertain to know if they were plants on land or coast outside, but ship construction is more competitive and cheaper. In addition, there is more precision on the delivery date, because they are key -key contracts. This is important because more surrender can be given to offtakers [clientes]”, They said in YPF.
In addition to the two liquefaction ships confirmed by Southern Energy, YPF, in turn, You are working to build four additional LNG ships in China: Two would be together with the Italian company Eni And the other two, with the Angloholandea Shell.
The entire project would imply an investment of at least US $ 22,000 millionwhich also includes the construction of treatment plants and the rest of the necessary infrastructure, according to the last presentation it made Horacio Marín, President and CEO of YPFbefore investors in the New York Stock Exchange.
In case of advancing with all these projects, It will need to build three gas pipelines more similar to the expert Moreno (formerly called President Néstor Kirchner), from the Neuquina basin to Río Negro. The 36 -inch and 573 kilometers long duct demanded an investment of US $ 2700 million in 2023.
