Low temperatures began to be felt throughout the country with the arrival of autumn and temperatures that will reach historic lows. A polar wave is expected for next weekend and the possibility of snow falling for the following days is latent in the province of Buenos Aires.
However, the cold brings serious problems around the supply of gas, both for private homes and for SMEs and service stations. Along these lines, the national government set off the alarms to prevent a lack of supply throughout the country.
In some districts of the province of Buenos Aires, this problem began to be felt with the prohibition of the sale of CNG in service stations in three important municipalities such as La Plata, Mar del Plata and Tandil.
In the district commanded by Miguel Lunghi the problem was resolved, but both in La Feliz and in the capital of Buenos Aires the conflict continues. During the day on Tuesday there was a strong protest by taxi drivers on the descent of the Buenos Aires – La Plata highway, to demand that the service be restored.
To add more spices, the controller of Enargas, Carlos Alberto Casares, with the support of the Secretary of Energy, Eduardo Rodríguez Chirilo, sent a letter to the main companies providing the input to warn about the increase in demand. The Government spoke of a “pre-emergency state” and requested the “identification and quantification of interruptible transport contracts (TI) that may be susceptible to cuts, in order to speed up decision-making in an operational situation in which “the normal supply of natural gas is at risk.”
The letter sent by Energía de Nación and Enargas was addressed to the main gas transporters and distributors in the country: TGN, TGS, Metrogas, Litoral Gas, Naturgy, Gas Nea, Gasnor, Camuzzi Gas Pampeana, Camuzzi Gas del Sur, Distribuidora de Gas del Centro, Gas Distributor Cuyana and Redengas.
At the same time, they also stated from the national government: “This note is to remind the licensees and transporters that with such an amount of uninterrupted demand, it is necessary to ensure that the system maintains its minimum pressures and to do so, it is required that everyone abide by the “a protocol that makes it very clear that interruptibles have to be cut, both within the distribution area and in the transportation systems.”
Another problem surrounding this situation is the lack of gas distribution through the Néstor Kirchner Gas Pipeline, inaugurated by the government of Alberto Fernández on July 9, 2023. Although it should provide about 24 million cubic meters per day, it registers a total of 11 million. Due to this situation, Cammesa purchased liquid fuel ships for more than 400 million dollars.
Furthermore, there is still latent concern about the elimination of the cold zone regime in the province of Buenos Aires, a measure that benefits a hundred Buenos Aires municipalities by reducing the value of the gas bill.
