Gasoducto Norte Gas Pipeline
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Gasoducto Norte is an operating natural gas pipeline in Argentina.[1] The pipeline originally operated north-to-south, transporting Bolivian fossil gas south into Argentina, but since 2024 it has reversed direction, transporting fossil gas north from Vaca Muerta into northern Argentina.
Location
The Gasoducto Norte runs between San Jerónimo (Santa Fe province) and Campo Durán (Salta province). At the San Jerónimo compressor station it connects with TGN's Centro Oeste Gas Pipeline.[2] From San Jerónimo, a spur segment (Gasoducto Aldao-Santa Fe) also runs north to interconnections with the Paraná-Uruguayana Gas Pipeline and the Northeast Argentina Gas Pipeline.[3]
Project Details
- Operator: Transportadora de Gas del Norte S.A. (TGN)[1]
- Owner: GasInvest SA (56%), Southern Cone Energy Holding Company Inc (24%), Bolsas y Mercados Argentinos SA (20%)[4][5]
- Parent Company: Tecpetrol SL (28%)[4][5], CGC-Compañía General de Combustibles (28%)[4][5][6], Southern Cone Energy Holding Company Inc (24%)[4][5], Bolsas y Mercados Argentinos SA (20%)[4][5]
- Capacity: 10.22 bcm/y (28 million m3 per day)[1]
- Length: 1454 kilometers[1]
- Diameter: 24 inches[7]
- Status: Operating
- Start Year: 1960[7][8]
- Associated infrastructure:
Background
The Gasoducto del Norte, which began operating in March 1960, was originally designed to transport Bolivian fossil gas southwards through northern Argentina into the Pampas region surrounding Buenos Aires. Operated by Transportadora de Gas del Norte S.A., the pipeline historically supplied fuel to customers in eight Argentine provinces (Salta, Jujuy, Tucumán, Santiago del Estero, Catamarca, Córdoba, Santa Fé, and Buenos Aires).[1] Together with the Centro Oeste Gas Pipeline, it forms part of the TGN Pipeline Network.[1][2]
In November 2024, the Argentine government completed a major overhaul of the Gasoducto Norte, reversing the pipeline's direction of flow to allow domestic gas from Vaca Muerta to travel northwards towards Salta province, Bolivia and Brazil.[9][10]
Reversal of pipeline flow to transport domestic gas north from Vaca Muerta
In mid-2023, Argentina completed construction of the first section of the Néstor Kirchner Gas Pipeline, allowing the country to substantially increase production and transport of fossil gas from its Vaca Muerta formation. This increase in domestic gas supplies, together with a decline in Bolivia's export potential, led to a decision to reverse the flow of the Gasoducto Norte.[11][12] Conversion of the pipeline to transport gas north rather than south, which would require the development of additional compressor stations and other new infrastructure[13], was expected to take place between late 2023 and mid-2024.[14]
In July 2023, the Argentine government announced that it would launch a tender for the US$ 750 million pipeline reversal project.[15] Once complete, the reversal would allow Argentina to send Vaca Muerta-sourced gas to northern Argentina, while also facilitating exports to Chile via the NorAndino and Atacama gas pipelines.[14] In addition, reversal of the Gasoducto Norte could eventually allow Argentina to export Vaca Muerta gas to Bolivia and Brazil.[16]
The pipeline reversal project comprised several elements, including the La Carlota-Tío Pujio gas pipeline (designed to connect the Centro Oeste Gas Pipeline with the Gasoducto Norte) and new infrastructure to reverse the direction of flow at several compressor stations along the route.[17]
In January 2024, Argentina's state-owned energy company ENARSA awarded a contract to UTE Techint-Sacde for construction of the first 100 km of pipeline[18], and in March 2024 ENARSA signed a contract for the remaining 22 km with the Argentine engineering firm BTU.[19] As of May 2024, construction of the first 100 kilometers of pipeline was complete, with the remaining 22 kilometers scheduled for completion by August 2024.[20] Hydraulic tests were underway along the full length of the completed pipeline in August 2024, with commissioning expected in mid-September 2024.[21]
In April 2024, ENARSA signed a contract with ESUCO to reverse the direction of flow at four compressor stations along the Gasoducto Norte: Ferreyra and Deán Funes in Córdoba province, Lavalle in Santiago del Estero province, and Lumbreras in Salta province.[22] Flow reversal at the first two stations was expected to take effect in March 2025, with the remaining two stations to be completed by June 2025.[21]
Pipeline connects Vaca Muerta with northern Argentina, sends first gas exports to Brazil
In November 2024 the La Carlota-Tio Pujio Gas Pipeline, designed to feed Vaca Muerta gas into the Gasoducto Norte, was officially inaugurated and placed into service, marking an important step forward in reducing Argentina's reliance on Bolivian exports.[9][10][23]
Officials hailed the start of northbound gas flow on the Gasoducto Norte as a groundbreaking national achievement, allowing domestically produced Argentine gas to reach seven northern provinces (Córdoba, Salta, Jujuy, Santiago del Estero, Catamarca, La Rioja and Tucumán) and potentially saving the country USD 1 to 2 billion annually in foreign currency expenditures.[9][10]
In March 2025, Argentina delivered its historic first overland shipment of Vaca Muerta gas to Brazil, taking advantage of the Gasoducto Norte's recent reversal of direction to feed domestic gas into Bolivia's existing network of pipelines and onward into Brazil.[24] The shipment, sent by TotalEnergies to the Brazilian company Matrix Energia, came in the wake of a memorandum of understanding signed between Presidents Javier Milei y Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva in late 2024.[24]
As of June 2025, Paraguay was seeking a similar trilateral arrangement with Argentina and Brazil to develop the Gasoducto Bioceánico, a 1050-kilometer pipeline that would transport Vaca Muerta gas to Brazil via Paraguay, extending from the Gasoducto Norte's northern terminus at Campo Durán, Argentina to Campo Grande, Brazil.[25][26][27]
Technical Description
The main pipeline is 1454 kilometers (903 miles) in length)[1] and 24 inches in diameter[7], with a total capacity of 28 million cubic meters per day (10.22 billion cubic meters per year).[1]
Along the pipeline's route are 12 compressor stations, one of which (San Jerónimo station) is shared with the Centro Oeste Gas Pipeline.[1] Other compressor stations are at Pichanal, Miraflores, Lumbreras, La Candelaria, Tucumán, Lavalle, Recreo, Deán Funes, Ferreira, Tío Pujio and Leones.[2]
Articles and resources
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 "TGN System". TGN. Retrieved 2023-08-22.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Evolución Histórica de los Sistemas de Gas Natural de la República Argentina (map)", Enargas (Ente Nacional Regulador del Gas), 2016
- ↑ "Mapa: Sistemas de Transporte de Gas Natural de la República Argentina" (PDF). Enargas.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 "Shareholder's structure". TGN. Retrieved 2023-08-22.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 "Reporte de Sustentabilidad 2022 (p 11)" (PDF). TGN. January 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Condensed interim consolidated financial statements as of March 31, 2023 (p 1)" (PDF). CGC (Compañía General de Combustibles S.A.). May 12, 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "Historia del Petróleo en Argentina (p 31)" (PDF). Cámara Argentina de la Construcción. September 2012.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Conmemoración del 50° aniversario del Gasoducto Norte" (PDF). Petrotecnia • Novedades de la Industria. 2010-04-01.
{{cite web}}: no-break space character in|website=at position 14 (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 "Finalmente quedó inaugurado la Reversión del Gasoducto Norte (y ya recibimos gas de Vaca Muerta)". InSalta. 2024-11-06.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 "⭕ El gobierno inauguró la Reversión del Gasoducto Norte que permitirá ahorrar US$ 1000 millones anuales". Econojournal. 2024-11-04.
- ↑ "Argentina acelera las obras del gasoducto norte para reemplazar el gas de Bolivi". Bloomberg Línea. July 24, 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ Natalí Risso (June 27, 2023). "Cuáles son los próximos pasos para desarrollar Vaca Muerta | Se requieren inversiones por más de 1700 millones de dólares". Página 12.
- ↑ "En septiembre se licitará la segunda etapa del Gasoducto Néstor Kirchner". Tiempo Argentino. July 9, 2023.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 "El gasoducto incrementará el abastecimiento de gas de Vaca Muerta para seis millones de usuarios del AMBA". TÉLAM. July 9, 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "El gobierno lanzará la licitación de la reversión del Gasoducto Norte con respaldo de fondos de Cammesa". Econojournal. July 9, 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Vaca Muerta: TGN terminó dos obras claves para exportarle gas a Bolivia y Brasil". El Cronista - Negocios. July 3, 2023.
- ↑ "Gasoducto del Norte: las empresas que realizan la reversión reclamaron al Gobierno por dificultades en la obra". infobae. 2024-08-06.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Reversal of Northern Gas Pipeilne: Techint Sacde consortium charged with lines two and three". Techint. 2024-01-26.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Enarsa y BTU firmaron los contratos pendientes de la reversión del Gasoducto Norte". Mejor Energía. 2024-03-22.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Importante Avance en las Obras de Reversión del Gasoducto Norte: Concluyeron las Soldaduras en Dos Tramos". Energía Argentina. 2024-05-28.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 21.0 21.1 "El mes próximo se termina la reversión del Gasoducto Norte para abastecer a 7 provincias". Política y Medios. 2024-08-20.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ Fernandez, Julian (2024-04-19). "Se firmaron los contratos para la reversión de cuatro plantas compresoras del Gasoducto Norte". Energía Argentina.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Llaryora y el ministro Francos inauguraron el gasoducto La Carlota-Tío Pujio y habilitaron la reversión del Gasoducto del Norte". InfoNegocios. 2024-11-13.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 24.0 24.1 "Por primera vez en la historia, el gas argentino llegó a uno de los mercados más grandes del mundo". El Economista. 2025-04-07.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Paraguay impulsa un gasoducto regional con Argentina y Brasil | Mejor Energía". Mejor Energía. 2025-06-06.
- ↑ "Paraguay impulsará este año la construcción de un gasoducto con la Argentina y Brasil". infobae. 2025-06-04.
- ↑ "Paraguay da otro paso decisivo para impulsar la construcción del Gasoducto Bioceánico". Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Comunicaciones. 2025-07-02.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
