The 5 routes that Argentina designs to reach Brazil with Vaca Muerta gas

The one that has the greatest consensus in the industry since it requires the least investment is the path via Bolivia. “We have to take advantage of the idle capacity of 20 MMm3/d that Bolivians have towards Brazil due to the decline in their production,” the Government says.

For that, this first stage of Reversal of the North Gasduct which will allow sending about 19 MMm3/d from Neuquén to the NOA, since a large part of that volume would be consumed by Argentine demand and there would barely be a surplus balance of between 6 and 9 MMm3/d during the summer alone. Consequently, a second phase of reversal financed by private capital would have to be undertaken to add another 10 MMm3/d between loops and new compressor plants.

The Paraguayan option

As Bolivia is asking for too high a toll as compensation for allowing its gas pipelines to be used, Paraguay took the opportunity to propose an alternative that does not set foot on Bolivian soil and traces a diagonal from Salta to Campo Grande, Brazil. As reported by +e, the project requires 1.5 billion dollars of investment and would allow transporting 15 MMm3/d.

another path through Paraguay it would be from Formosa taking advantage of the GNEA infrastructure. The advantage of this route is that the number of kilometers to be built would be less, it passes through Asunción where an interesting volume of demand can also be supplied and it reaches the city of Campo Grande itself to connect with the gas pipeline that reaches San Pablo. .

Any of these three alternatives would make it possible to supply the industrial demand of São Paulo and that of the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, which, according to consultant Álvaro Ríos Rocca, has the highest energy cost in Brazil when supplied with LPG.

The three remaining routes to Brazil

The other two routes already point to the market of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and Paraná, which needs between 10 and 20 MMm3/d. The first would require the construction of the second stage of GPNK and an additional pipe between Uruguayan and Porto Alegre. Section 2 of the GPNK would be put out to tender within 30 to 60 days along with three compressor plants (Casa de Piedra, Chacharramendi and Doblas) to increase the transportation capacity to almost 40 MMm3/d, according to official sources indicated to this medium.

The other way would be through Uruguay, a country with which there is already a connection through the Cruz del Sur Gas Pipeline inaugurated in 2002 that connects the town of Punta Lara with Colonia del Sacramento subfluvially and from there it runs almost 150 kilometers to Montevideo. The section that would need to be built would be between the Uruguayan capital and Porto Alegre, plus some compressor plants to increase the transportation capacity of the pipe, which was designed to carry only 5 MMm3/d.

“Brazil is willing to finance the infrastructure. “They need our gas,” they say from Casa Rosada, despite the fact that negotiations with the neighboring country have been going on for several years and no concrete progress has yet been made for any of these lines.