The expected reversal of the Northern Gas Pipeline, a strategic work intended to bring gas from Vaca Muerta to the north of the country, will be completed by next September, as confirmed by official and private sources. This project is presented as a crucial solution to the decrease in gas supply from Bolivia, which can no longer satisfy its own demand.
The expected reversal of the Northern Gas Pipeline, a strategic work intended to bring gas from Vaca Muerta to the north of the country, will be completed by next September, as confirmed by official and private sources. This project is presented as a crucial solution to the decrease in gas supply from Bolivia, which can no longer satisfy its own demand.
The work, the only one prioritized by the national government, is essential to supply gas to seven provinces in central and northern Argentina: Salta, Santiago del Estero, Tucumán, Catamarca, Jujuy, La Rioja and Córdoba. The distributed gas will be used both for home use and for the generation of electricity in thermal power plants.
Financed largely by a US$540 million loan from the Development Bank of Latin America, this project will make it possible to take advantage of the growing production of unconventional gas from Vaca Muerta, located in the Neuquén Basin. The total investment amounts to US$ 720 million.
The work includes the regular line welding of sections 2 and 3 of the “Federal Integration Gasduct”, which covers 122 kilometers from Tío Pujio to La Carlota in Córdoba, and the construction of the remaining 22 kilometers of the gas pipeline, in addition to 62 kilometers of loops in the Northern Gasduct near Ferreyra and the City of Córdoba. To speed up the process, an automatic welding system was used, with 4,059 welds completed in just 41 days.
Despite the progress, construction companies Techint and Sacde have not yet collected the $14 billion that the State owes them since May, a debt that has been temporarily covered with loans from commercial banks.
Once completed, the reversal of the gas pipeline will allow the shipment of around 16 million cubic meters of gas per day, contributing significantly to the energy transition towards less polluting fuels and ensuring energy supply in Salta and northern Argentina. Completion of the works is scheduled for the end of August, with a positive impact expected from September.
