Enarsa begins fill of Vaca Muerta natural gas pipeline
Energía Argentina SA (Enarsa) has begun line fill of its 24-million cu m/day (850-MMcfd) President Néstor Kirchner natural gas pipeline (GPNK). Initial gas is being loaded into the system via a gas treatment plant and measuring station at the pipeline’s starting point in Tratayén, Neuquén province.
Filling the 573-km OD pipe will require 25 million cu m of gas and be done section-by-section, with commissioning scheduled for July 9, 2023. Construction, led by SACDE Sociedad Argentina de Construcción y Desarrollo Estratégico SA and Techint Engineering & Construction, took 10 months to complete.
Argentina’s government expects the pipeline—which runs from the Vaca Muerta shale in northern Patagonia to Salliqueló, Buenos Aires province—will allow the country to save as much as $4.2 billion/year in gas imports. Construction of a planned 467-km second section, from Buenos Aires province to San Jerónimo, in southern Santa Fe province, and the soon-to-be-tendered Reversión del Norte will allow exports to northern Chile and Brazil.
Transportadora de Gas del Sur SA will operate GPNK under 5-year contract to Enarsa.
Tenaris supplied the 36- and 30-in. OD line pipe for the project (OGJ Online, June 17, 2022).
Christopher E. Smith | Editor in Chief
Christopher brings 27 years of experience in a variety of oil and gas industry analysis and reporting roles to his work as Editor-in-Chief, specializing for the last 15 of them in midstream and transportation sectors.
