Bahia Blanca Petrochemical Complex

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Bahia Blanca Petrochemical Complex (Complejo Petroquímico Bahía Blanca) is a chemical plant operating in Ingeniero White, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Location

The map below shows the exact location of the chemical plant in Ingeniero White, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

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Coordinates (WGS 84): -38.767230, -62.286881 (exact)

Chemical Plant Details

Table 1: Ownership Details

Owner name	Owner company GEM ID
Dow Inc [100%]	E100002000031 [100%]

Table 2: Products and Feedstocks

Note: GEM classifies "Primary products" as one of the eight global building block chemicals we track. Many plants also produce downstream products (e.g., polyethylene, fertilizers), which appear under "Secondary products", and are not comprehensive. This classification reflects our research scope, not the relative economic importance of products.

Primary products	Secondary products	Feedstock	Feedstock accuracy
ethylene	polyethylene	ethane	exact

Background

Dow Bahía Blanca chemical plant (historically known as the Complejo Petroquímico Bahía Blanca) was originally conceived by the Argentine government during the late 1960s to leverage the region's proximity to major natural gas pipelines (Comodoro Rivadavia–Buenos Aires Pipeline and San Martin Pipeline) and the deepwater port of Ingeniero White. The project was formally established under state-majority ownership following the passage of Law 19.334 on October 21, 1971, which legally created Petroquímica Bahía Blanca (PBB) to serve as the primary ethylene production hub of the complex. Following construction delays throughout the 1970s, the Argentine government passed Law 21.635 in September 1977 to accelerate development, declaring the completion of the complex a matter of urgent national interest. The complex officially initiated operations and fired up its first primary ethane-fed steam cracker in 1981.

In December 1995, under the sweeping national privatization reforms implemented by the Argentine government, the state put its shares in PBB and its downstream companion plant, Polisur, up for public bidding. Dow Chemical secured the winning bid, taking over majority ownership and operations on December 22, 1995.

Following the takeover, Dow initiated a major US$2 billion expansion program. Completed and commissioned in 2001, the expansion added a second steam cracker and significantly boosted downstream polyethylene production capacities. The facility operates as the sole producer of polyethylene in Argentina, consisting of two active ethane-fed steam crackers with a combined ethylene capacity of 730 thousand metric tons per annum (ttpa).

Related pipelines

Dow Bahía Blanca chemical plant in Bahía Blanca petrochemical complex is situated at the point of convergence of Argentina’s primary southern and western natural gas corridors. Raw feedstocks are delivered to the facility via dedicated infrastructure connected to the Transportadora de Gas del Sur (TGS) pipeline network and the adjacent General Cerri gas processing complex. The integrated petrochemical facility relies on several major natural gas pipelines to supply the ethane feedstock required for its two steam crackers:

Southern Basin Pipeline Corridor

• Comodoro Rivadavia–Buenos Aires Pipeline: Originally inaugurated in 1949 as the Gasoducto Presidente Perón, this historic 1,700-kilometer pipeline was one of the earliest major trunklines routing Patagonian natural gas through Bahía Blanca to meet industrial and domestic demand along the eastern seaboard.

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• San Martín Pipeline: Originally commissioned in 1965, this 4,590-kilometer pipeline (historically referred to as the Austral Pipeline or First Transmagallánico Pipeline) transports natural gas from Tierra del Fuego and the Golfo San Jorge basin north along the Atlantic coast.The system passes directly through a vital compressor station at Bahía Blanca before terminating in the Buenos Aires province, offering a consistent supply line from the country's southern reserves.

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Neuquén Basin & Vaca Muerta Corridor

• Neuba I Gas Pipeline: Completed in 1970 and expanded in 1996, this 1,267-kilometer pipeline connects the central Neuquén Basin (originating at Sierra Barrosa) to the Buenos Aires metropolitan area. The pipeline routes gas directly into the General Cerri Complex at Bahía Blanca, where heavy liquid fractions are separated to supply the downstream petrochemical grid.

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• Neuba II Gas Pipeline: Built in 1988 to expand upon the Neuba I corridor, this 1,958-kilometer trunkline transports natural gas from Loma La Lata in the Neuquén Basin through La Pampa and into the General Cerri compressor station at Bahía Blanca. It serves as a major logistical artery feeding industrial production units before continuing north to Greater Buenos Aires.

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• Perito Moreno Gas Pipeline (formerly Néstor Kirchner Gas Pipeline): Firing up commercial operations for Phase 1 in 2023, this 573-kilometer high-pressure pipeline was constructed to unlock the massive unconventional gas potential of the Vaca Muerta shale formation from Tratayén to Salliqueló. [5] In conjunction with its development, a 38.2-kilometer Neuba II Loop was designed to link the system directly back into the existing TGS architecture shared with the Bahía Blanca industrial hub, drastically enhancing the long-term availability of shale-derived ethane fractions.

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Environmental and Social Justice impact

The close proximity of the Dow's Bahía Blanca chemical plant to populated areas—situated within 5 kilometers of the city of Bahía Blanca and directly adjacent to the town of Ingeniero White—has generated long-standing environmental safety and public health friction between local residents and the facility operators. Since Dow acquired the facility during the privatization waves of the mid-1990s, community anxiety regarding industrial air quality and marine and estuary degradation has steadily escalated.

Community Health and Air Quality Concerns

Community advocacy organizations and documentaries have highlighted chronic air pollution stemming from the wider integrated complex. Nearby residents have frequently attributed an increase in respiratory illnesses, rare cancers, skin disorders, and cardiovascular conditions to chemical emissions and toxic odors from the surrounding industrial zone.Atmospheric pollution including chemical flares and perceived occurrences of acid rain on high-humidity days remain primary points of local grievance.

Major Industrial Incidents

2015 LDPE Plant Explosion: On November 3, 2015, an explosion followed by a localized fire broke out inside the reaction zone of the site's Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE) manufacturing facility. Although the company contained the fire rapidly and reported no major injuries, the blast heightened community anxiety regarding fence-line industrial safety.

2019 Ethylene Cracker Explosion: On June 28, 2019, a catastrophic pressure containment failure occurred inside the Dow's Ethylene BB 2 production plant (Cracker 2). The resulting overpressure and container rupture created a powerful atmospheric shockwave that shattered residential windows in Ingeniero White, caused buildings to tremble across the city of Bahía Blanca, and was registered on a seismograph located more than 100 kilometers away. While Dow reported that the lack of flammable gas prevented an active fire and averted physical injuries, several facility employees required medical treatment for extreme psychological shock. The incident drew severe public backlash because the local community warning sirens were not activated, which left the surrounding population in an immediate state of panic and confusion during the early morning hours. Systemic plant accidents across the wider industrial zone, including toxic chlorine and ammonia leaks, have historically exacerbated these local emergency concerns.

Marine and Estuary Contamination

Runoff and open effluent discharge channels connecting the integrated petrochemical complex to the Bahía Blanca estuary have altered local marine ecology. Studies conducted by Argentine scientific institutes have tracked elevated trace concentrations of heavy metals—including mercury, cadmium, lead, and zinc—in the estuary's sediment, crab, and fish populations.

The wastewater and chemical sludge release have triggered significant shifts in the local marine flora and fauna.As a result of this bioaccumulation and contamination, the regional fishing activity has almost entirely disappeared; local small-scale fishermen who historically sustained themselves via the estuary are no longer able to generate a viable livelihood from their catches.

Articles and Resources

Additional data

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