While seeking to show progress on the Vaca Muerta gas pipeline, the government wants to guarantee imported gas by 2023

The Government seeks to show progress in the Néstor Kirchner gas pipeline, which it promised will be ready by June 2023, and is touring the works in progress, among other sectors, in the section that passes through the Vaca Muerta field.

With the purpose of shielding reserves to face the agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Economy has been stressing for some time that with the completion of the gas pipeline work (scheduled for June 2023) the State would save, in principle, approximately 2.2 billion dollars between import substitution and the reduction of subsidies.

In this context, while the Government continues to show the progress of the work, it seeks to guarantee liquefied gas for next winter. The state-owned energy company ENARSA received five non-binding proposals from its suppliers to buy up to 30 LNG cargoes which, according to EconoJournal, would mean the disbursement of around US$ 2000 million,

The key would be that the government could pay for the 30 cargoes in advance, unlike in the past, which required a succession of tenders for more spaced out and smaller cargoes.



The Secretary of Energy, Flavia Royón, together with the Minister of the Interior, Eduardo De Pedro, the Governor of Neuquén, Omar Gutiérrez and the Governor of La Pampa, Sergio Ziliotto, visited this Tuesday one of the main construction sites of the Néstor Kirchner Gas Pipeline, located in the province of Río Negro. The tour was attended by the president of Energía Argentina, Agustín Gerez, and the president of YPF, Pablo González.

There, Royón made reference to the Gas Plan and remarked: "In line with the gas pipeline, we also worked with the Gas Plan whose main objective is to advance on self-supply with a competitive gas for Argentines and for the industry, to be able, in the medium term, to talk about exports and the LNG project, but first there is Argentine gas" and added "the price we are projecting is between 3.5 and 4 dollars".

The official did not rule out that in the winter of 2023, even with the gas pipeline already completed, Argentina will continue importing gas for power generation and household supply. On Wednesday, she even left open the possibility of the return of the Bahía Blanca regasification vessel, which left Argentine shores a few months ago.

The goal of energy self-sufficiency, and the possibility of exporting gas from Vaca Muerta, is set for the longer term, from 2024 onwards, according to the Government.