The national deputy Julio Cobos asked the Argentine Government for a series of reports on how the issue of gas supply was and will be treated from now on.
The crisis due to the cuts that generated a lack of supply during the last few days generated great confusion and uncertainty in relation to what could happen when winter arrives and temperatures are really low.
“We all know what has happened with the lack of gas supply throughout the country, when the low temperatures have just begun. That is why it is essential to know the actions carried out by the national Executive to prevent this from happening again, as a result of improvisation or inexperience,” the man from Mendoza told ViaCountry.
“Due to the lack of gas, the Ministry of Energy announced that residential consumption would be prioritized and the interruptible gas service to industries and CNG service stations would be suspended. However, according to various media reports, the cut-off reached almost all non-residential users, interruptible and non-interruptible, for example, on May 28, no CNG station in the country worked, even those that had non-interruptible contracts,” Cobos pointed out.
And he added: “All this in a context where apparently there were reports that warned of the critical situation and the inaction of the respective authorities. That is why it is very important to know the nature of the problem, when in the media, officials talk about large investments to export gas and, in the first cold wave, it turns out that internal demand cannot be supplied.”
The deputy asked that a report be reflected on how the works progressed – from last December to the recently completed May – of the Néstor Kirchner gas pipeline, which according to experts has plenty of gas to supply this and other countries. In addition, he demanded details of the buying and selling businesses that are sustained.
“I asked the ruling party to report the progress status of the construction works of the gas compressor stations of the Néstor Kirchner gas pipeline, the volume of gas delivered from the Republic of Bolivia, the purchases in volumes and costs of Liquefied Natural Gas made, and the delivery schedule from the date until the month of October of this year. Also, the daily demand for natural gas through networks during the current month of May in millions of m3,” said Cobos.
In addition, the Mendoza legislator requested information on “the reasons that led to cutting gas service in contracts agreed to be uninterruptible and the causes of the delay in the acquisition of LNG cargoes by ship that prevented service from being provided.”
“We sought to know if the Ministry of Energy was aware, since the beginning of this year, of the technical reports that indicated that, with an increase in demand, the effective supply of gas was going to be insufficient,” the request says. Finally, he asks to know if, finally, “diesel imports were made this month to supply fuel to dual thermal plants that can run on natural gas or diesel.”
“We must study the issue and propose measures so that this situation does not occur again, anticipating the works and the necessary measures to avoid new crises before these works are completed,” concluded Cobos.
