The debate on the Bases Law began in the Senate, and in the midst of the discussion and the legislative chicanery between the ruling party and the opposition over the norm that is the backbone of the initial changes that the government of Javier Mileia new doubt was renewed from the private sector.
If this legal body is not approved, especially the chapter on incentives for large investments, the Large Investment Regime, or RIGI, the project for the liquefied natural gas plant, LNG, and surrounding infrastructure to export the gas and definitively boost Vaca Muerta will not be possible. In the energy sector there is agreement on this matter. This plant is the necessary facility to transform the gas and make it exportable by means of ships, the same ones that the country imports today and that generated a strong impact on the spending of dollars by the Treasury and the BCRA in recent years (although much less since The Néstor Kirchner Gasduct works, which injects fluid into the national network and saves, in part, those imports).
The project that was born in the government of Alberto Fernandez It has full continuity in this one. And it is no wonder: it is the largest infrastructure project in Argentine history that would allow, from 2031 and if official forecasts are met, total annual exports of around USD 30,000 million (gas and also crude oil).
YPF and the Malaysian Petronas are already working on the first and incipient steps of the project. Both signed an understanding agreement in 2022 and since then there have been preparatory meetings, with one eye on the initial technical details of the mega project, and another on the financing but, above all, on the political ups and downs of Argentina. At the flag oil company, which at this point it is ruled out that the Milei administration intends to sell it, they assure that the project is “absolutely strategic for the Government” and they are working so that within a few weeks the place where the plant will be built will be defined. and to begin selling the “mature fields” of conventional hydrocarbons that they have in Patagonia, one of the axes of the new management that concentrates plans and dollars in the shale of Vaca Muerta. Of the total of USD 30,000 in exports in seven years, they hope to capture just under half.
The ambitious project was born with the “Argentina factor” as a major determining factor, and this is what still raises doubts about its viability and actual completion. In September 2022, when the first agreement was signed, Petronas said that “the Final Investment Decision for the projects will be made after a diligent technical and commercial evaluation has been carried out, supported by enabling fiscal conditions, legislation and policies.” ”. They asked, and continue to ask for legal security by law for the project.
Since then, what was known as the LNG Law was implemented, which Sergio Massa It promoted and achieved half a sanction in the Deputies although it later never advanced in the Senate. Basically, it is the same project that now bears the name RIGI.
The new president of YPF, Horacio Marin, formerly Pluspetrol, Techint’s oil company, has the project as one of the central axes of its management and is working to close its financing. It is a great architecture that includes agreements with other companies and also country-country agreements, with nations that agree directly with the Milei government on the future purchase of gas and other schemes. There have already been meetings in this regard with India, France and Germany, for example. In the current context it sounds almost like science fiction for many, but at YPF it is one of the top priorities.
“If there is no RIGI, there is no project. We are talking about the largest infrastructure project in the history of this country. A project in which, in addition to YPF and Petronas, all companies in the industry will participate, in one way or another,” he assured in dialogue with Infobaeand strictly off the record, an official source who is involved in the project. The RIGI, for projects of more than USD 200 million, contains tax benefits and also exceptions in exchange matters, fiscal stability and less payment of Profits, among others. It was questioned by the UIA due to the impact it could have on local SMEs.
The first part of the LNG plant project will be done with two large factory ships – which will be built in Korea or China. They are surfaces that float, but not ships, strictly speaking: they are installed on the coast and carry out the liquefaction of the gas. One of those ships will be for YPF and Petronas, and should be ready in a couple of years, and the other for the other companies that join and invest. Each ship will require an investment of about USD 3 billion.
Then will come the construction of the plant and new “pipes”; something like three new Néstor Kirchner gas pipelines. The most expensive part of the plan. Where will the future ships and plant be installed? It will be decided in June and there are two options: Bahía Blanca and Punta Colorada, in Río Negro. Everything indicates that this last deep-water destination would be the chosen one – despite the fact that there is already existing infrastructure in the Buenos Aires city. The reason? Strategic location and also some competitive advantages, such as possible tax relief. Anyway, it is being defined at YPF at this time.
Marín assumed and announced his “4 x 4 plan,” with which he hopes to quadruple the value of the company in the next four years. This program is based on four fundamental pillars of the short, medium and long term under the premise of concentrating efforts on the most profitable activities for the state oil company. In this context, the “mature areas” will be sold, for which there are already more than 70 interested parties registered.
Other pillars are to generate a more efficient operation in the segment upstream (exploration and production) and midstream (oil and gas transportation) in the medium term and the LNG plant.
Meanwhile, the oil company is analyzing the sale of its subsidiary in Brazil – 250 employees and a lubricant sales business – and also that of Chile (gas and fuels). And it could do the same with its participation in Metrogas and Refinor. But not with the fertilizer company Profertil. Nor will it be separated, according to reports, from the technology company Y-Tec, although “it will no longer dedicate itself to studying sustainable agriculture, as with the previous management. Work such as the manufacturing of cells for lithium batteries, infrastructure for hydrogen and other new energies will be promoted for the coming decade,” they highlighted near Marín. They will also not sell YPF Luz and its lithium assets, although these are not relevant.
The company has already increased its fuel prices by more than 50% since the new government took office and assures that it is “close to parity” with the import price. The recession had a strong impact on the business: its sales in April fell 9% for gasoline and 11% for diesel, compared to a year ago.
It will present the balance for the first quarter of the year this week. It will be the first of the Milei era. There will be more details to know the plans and how the management is going Marín, who is encouraged to think big in the midst of the bidding in Congress and a pressing economic situation.
