The steel pipe manufacturer Tenaris, which is part of the Techint Group, completed the manufacturing and delivered the more than 10,000 welded pipes destined for the construction of the Federal Integration Gasduct, a 127-kilometer work that will supply natural gas from Vaca Dead in seven provinces in northern Argentina.
These are pipes 36 millimeters thick and 12 meters long that were manufactured at the Tenaris SIAT plant, in the Buenos Aires town of Valentín Alsina, as part of the works carried out by the state company Energía Argentina for the Reversion of the Gasoducto del North.
These particular pipes, which required some 2,500 truck trips, are destined for the Tío Pujio-La Carlota Federal Integration Gasduct, whose assembly is in charge of Techint Engineering and Construction, in a temporary union with Sacde, which in turn is part of the Pampa Energía group, headed by businessman Marcelo Mindlin.
Both companies are in charge of the construction of a 100-kilometer stretch of pipelines that will link the Central and Northern gas pipelines, in the province of Córdoba.
Tenaris is a global provider of pipes and related services for the energy industry and industrial applications. In 2023, it reported sales of almost US$15 billion and, with a presence in 30 countries, it has a total of 29,000 employees.
The company had been in charge of manufacturing the tubes for the 573-kilometer extension of the Presidente Néstor Kirchner Gas Pipeline (GPNK), deployed from the heart of Vaca Muerta to the town in the central west of Buenos Aires, Salliqueló.
For that occasion, the tube manufacturer recorded record production levels for six months at its Valentín Alsina plant. At that time, 2.5 kilometers of pipeline were produced per day and 60 kilometers in total per month, figures that had never been achieved before in the country.
More than US$8 million was invested in the redesign and enhancement of the production line and more than 450 new collaborators were hired, which provided the productive muscle that today allowed us to complete the manufacturing of new pipes for the work in progress.
Starting today, the Valentín Alsina plant will be dedicated to manufacturing 30-inch tubes that will be used for the loops (expansions) that are planned for different sections of the Northern Gas Pipeline, whose reversal is expected to be operational by next October.
The reversal is a necessary work to supply the northern provinces with gas from Vaca Muerta, given the sustained decline in Bolivia’s fields in recent years.
