The lack of gas in Argentina It continues to be an issue that worries the entire country. He Government confirms that there is a “pre-emergency” and there is concern in the sector, since it is expected that interruptible schemes may be canceled for a few days and may even affect service stations with a firm contract CNG.
The fact, as anticipated MDZ For several days, it has been mainly affecting stations that provide interruptible services. However, in the sector they fear that the situation could escalate. An official source from one of the sector’s confederations told this media that “the problem continues and will last for several days.” The main concern is that the problem will reach the stations with a firm contract of CNG and not only the interruptible ones, which have already been affected for weeks in different provinces of the country.
“If that happens, it will begin to affect users, we are in talks with officials of the Government to find a solution, but the issue is complicated,” they noted from the sector. The cold of May is the main cause of concern: not only are the low temperatures earlier, but they will also have historic lows so it could be extremely different to May 2023, which in fact had much higher temperatures.
In pursuit of that, the Government He sent a letter to gas industry companies to put them on alert. This is a notice in which they announce a strong increase in demand. It bears the signature of the auditor of the Enargas, Carlos Casares and was already received by the sector. They speak of improvisation and lack of measures on the part of the Executive and that the advance of the cold put in emergency to the sector.
Gas has two types of demand: uninterruptible which is the residential and the interruptible which is the CNG and some industries that may be cheaper contracts and can be cut in situations in which shortages are recorded, as in these cases. The interruptibles are the first services to be cut, currently 120 service stations were affected to provide domestic consumption, but the scale of the problem would make the situation worse.
The letter that Government sent to the gas companies requests that there be an identification and quantification of transport contracts that are interruptible and that may be susceptible to cuts to speed up decision-making by the Executive when the supply of gas supply is at risk. domestic use.
The note highlights that there is an extreme demand for uninterruptible gas and “it is necessary to ensure that the system maintains its minimum pressures. This requires that everyone abide by the protocol that makes it very clear that the interruptibles have to be cut off, both within the distribution area as well as in transportation systems”. The Government indicates that this strategy is a common way of dealing with polar waves when crossing the beginning of the winter.
At the same time, the sector emphasizes that it is in a state of emergency and denounces that the energy system is in a bad position in the face of the cold.
The latest statement from CECHA indicates that they are formally requesting that the sale of CNG be regulated. “At CECHA, we inform the population that operational restrictions ordered in principle by the CAMUZZI and GASNOR Distributors to the CNG dispensing service stations are being registered, for apparent reasons of force majeure. This has caused the cutoff of the supply of GNC in several districts in the provinces of Buenos Aires, Tucumán, La Pampa, Catamarca, Santiago del Estero, Neuquén and Río Negro. “There is a concrete possibility that this situation will extend to other distributors and consequently to other urban centers in the country.” , highlighted the statement issued in recent days.
