With the days numbered for the On the 30th of this month, the formal gas import contract from Bolivia endsthe national government advances in negotiations with Chile to import from the neighboring country the molecules that will prevent problems from occurring in the seven provinces of Northwestern Argentina. The route chosen is the same one that the then minister Juan José Aranguren used in 2018 and for which he was criminally denounced.
The confirmation of the negotiations between the Argentine state company Enarsa and the government of Gabriel Boric It occurred from both countries, although the firm in charge of gas imports for Argentina warned that the management “is not yet closed.”
Despite this warning, the fact is that There are only 17 days left until the import contract between Enarsa itself and Yacimientos Petrolófilos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB) ends.an early cut of the contract that was signed last year when the previous government was confident that it would arrive in May with the finished work of the Reversal of the North Gasduct.
Bliss work was delayedas expected after the tender for the first line of work was blocked because – in the heat of the elections and inflation – the companies presented offers that exceeded the planned budget by 160%.
With a new completion date of the first stage of the Northern Gas Pipeline Reversal for September, The government must go out to guarantee sufficient gas volumes for the 6 million inhabitants of the center and north of the country that depend on that branch, at least for the months of July and August.
The negotiations, so far
From Bolivia, the press assures that there are already negotiations so that they continue to be shipped close to 5 million cubic meters of natural gas per day. Although there are no certainties as to whether this volume is freely available or whether the agreement signed with the Brazilian Petrobrasso that the firm releases that quota.
Aresecond option would imply a significant additional cost, given that first of all it would be necessary to pay the cost of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) imported by Petrobras, then the cost of its regasification and finally an extra for the use of the Bolivian network. Items that would not be there if it were only Bolivia’s own gas.
The tThe third option is the one revealed by the Chilean government by issuing an authorization from its Ministry of Energy, in which they endorse the export of “up to 128,470,000 cubic meters of natural gas from Chile to Argentina.”
The text also notes that the exports would be carried out by ENAP, the Chilean national oil company, using for this gas taken from the Mejillones LNG terminal and dispatching it from the Antofagasta region through the Norandino Gasduct that arrives in Salta.
- 2 million cubic meters per day
- It is the volume indicated by the authorization given by the Chilean government if shipments are maintained for two months.
According to the maximum volumes marked, the shipments could reach 2 million cubic meters per day for a period of two monthsthus being in line with the limited capacity of the Norandino Gasduct.
This maneuver also implies paying the same additional costs as using the gas released by Petrobras, since it would be the value of the LNG, plus its regasification and transportation to Salta. But as noted, it is an alternative that was already used in 2018.
On that occasion, which was later the subject of a criminal complaint against the then minister ArangurenArgentina had a drop in its gas production, when Vaca Muerta’s contribution was still insignificant and the government of Mauricio Macri opted for that import route not because of the price itself, but because the two regasification vessels that were there at that time They were already at full capacity.
Due to this importation, on June 23, 2020, the auditor of the Enargas of Alberto Fernández’s management, Federico Bernal, denounced Aranguren for poor performance of public office and incompatible negotiations, although the complaint was finally dismissed.
Now, with section 1 of the Néstor Kirchner Gas Pipeline (GPNK) in operation, with one of the compressor plants coming into operation in July, but also with the worst gas supply crisis recorded in decades last month, The government is once again facing a scenario of gas shortage in much of the country.
