Argentina hydrocarbons watch

A former president of Argentine state energy company Enarsa was indicted on Friday, accused of contracting a firm with a conflict of interest and "aggravated fraudulent administration." Ezequiel Omar Espinosa and other ex-colleagues are accused of hiring a company with links to one of the Enarsa officials, state news agency Télam reported.

According to federal judge Julián Ercolini, Enarsa hired the P&D Control Group to provide fuel control services while "avoiding the corresponding competitive process and without the documentation to justify such a move."

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The first 90km of Argentina's GNEA gas pipeline have begun to transport gas. Testing began on April 23 on the stretch followed by a successful injection of natural gas into the trunk pipe this month, Enarsa said in a press release.

GNEA is designed to transport natural gas from the Juana Azurduy pipeline that takes gas from Bolivia to Argentina. Over the next weeks, construction will move forward in Santa Fe province and then advance towards Chaco province. The 1,484km pipeline will begin in the east of Salta province and run through Formosa and Chaco provinces before terminating in the south of Santa Fe province.

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London-listed Echo Energy said in a statement that it is unaffected by the current economic situation in Argentina, specifically interest rates following the recent hike in the benchmark to 40%. The firm confirmed in a note to the market that it does not hold Argentine pesos and that it has no debt linked to domestic interest rates. "All capital costs associated with the company's ongoing Argentinian work program are priced in US dollars and converted to pesos only as required at point of payment," the note said, as with its sales, adding that "the company's exposure to the recent weakening of the peso has been positive."