Government could settle El Mutún gas supply issue in December - Bolivia
Government could settle El Mutún gas supply issue in December - Bolivia
Sunday, July 6, 2008
(BNamericas.com) - Bolivia's government could decide this December which gas deposit will be used to supply the El Mutún steel project in Santa Cruz department, a spokesperson from Bolivia's mining and metallurgy ministry told BNamericas.
"The issue of gas is included in the contract with [Indian company] Jindal but what isn't specified is whether the supply will come from deposits in Tarija, Santa Cruz or Sucre," the ministry's spokesperson Alfredo Zaconeta said.
Although the gas could be extracted from fields in Santa Cruz because of their proximity, new deposits in Sucre department might be preferable due to the quantity needed for steelmaking processes at El Mutún, he said.
Also, "if gas is taken from the Tarija deposits, it affects the supply contract with Argentina and if it's taken from Santa Cruz, it affects the contract with Brazil, which would impact international markets," he said.
As such, it is most likely that the Sucre fields will be used to avoid affecting the foreign market.
Zaconeta expects construction on the gas pipeline to begin in early 2009 and take nearly 18 months, with the test phase planned for 2011.
Gas-fired steel production is slated to begin in 2012 at El Mutún and will require 7.96Mm3/d of gas to produce direct reduced iron and generate electric power.
Jindal won the concession in June 2006 to develop 50% of El Mutún and signed the contract in July 2007.
The project will include industrial development of the deposit and the installation of a steel plant to produce 1.7Mt/y of sponge iron and 1.4Mt/y of rolled steel for domestic use and export....
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Sunday, July 6, 2008
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Celsa considers steel mill in Santa Catarina - Brazil
Sunday, July 6, 2008
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The facility wou... more