Chile drives Argentine gas export growth

Argentine gas exports climbed 30% year-on-year in August, according to data from regulator Enargas.

The country piped 4.90Mm3/d (million cubic meters a day), with Chile accounting for 4.59Mm3/d, up 34%.

In turn, 4.06Mm3/d of the gas sent to Chile was dispatched through the GasAndes duct, connecting the Neuquén basin to Chilean capital Santiago.

Uruguay accounted for 310,000m3/d, down 4%, sent through the Cruz del Sur link.

No exports to Brazil were registered. Argentine firms have filed six authorization requests to send gas to Brazil via Bolivian infrastructure, four involving Neuquén basin output. The remaining two requests involve gas from the Noroeste basin, which is north of Neuquén, and the Austral basin, which is south of the jurisdiction. 

A project – flow-reversal of the Gasoducto Norte pipeline – to permit the transport of Neuquén gas north and to the Argentina-Bolivia border is underway and due for completion this half.

In June, Bolivian state hydrocarbons company YPFB said its gas network was ready to dispatch Argentine gas to Brazil, up to 3Mm3/d. Engineers were working to boost capacity to over 10Mm3/d in the medium term, YPFB said.

Combined, the Brazil export requests filed in Argentina involve a maximum of 6.3Mm3/d.

Last month Argentina’s government authorized the exportation of “additional volumes” of natural gas and the establishment, for the first time in 20 years, of four-year export contracts. The goal is boosting foreign currency revenue and state coffers, the economy ministry said.

In 2023, the administration of then president Alberto Fernández said gas producers would be able to export, in 2024, up to 9Mm3/d to Chile on a firm basis.

Secondary rules guiding the implementation of the government's economic reform law, known as Ley Bases, are pending. The law eases state control over hydrocarbons exports, although some powers could be granted given the strategic importance of gas to the country and the winter demand spike it experiences.