Golfo San Matías FLNG Terminal
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Golfo San Matías FLNG Terminal is a proposed floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) export terminal in Argentina.
Location
The terminal would be located about 35km south of Las Grutas, Río Negro province, Argentina.
Project details
- Operator: Southern Energy SA[1][2][3][4][5]
- Owner: Southern Energy SA[1][2][3][4][5]
- Parent company: Pan American Energy SA[1], Pampa Energía [20%][2], Harbour Energy [15%][3], Golar LNG [10%][1], YPF[4]
- Vessel Name: FLNG Hilli Episeyo[2][3][4][5]
- Location: 35km south of Las Grutas, Río Negro province[5]
- Coordinates: -41.097482, -65.14845 (approximate)[5]
- Capacity: 2.45 mtpa[1][2][3][4]
- Status: Proposed
- Type: Export[1]
- Start year: 2027[1][2][4][5]
- Cost:
- Financing:
- FID status: pre-FID (FID expected in Q1 2025)[4]
- Associated infrastructure:
Background
In July 2024, Southern Energy SA — then a joint venture of Golar LNG and Pan American Energy — signed a 20-year agreement to develop an FLNG export terminal in Argentina utilizing Golar's Hilli FLNG, with a capacity of 2.45 mtpa and a 2027 start-up date.[1] Exact location and other details of the project remained unspecified.
In late November and early December 2024, further details of the project were confirmed. The project's location was identified to be approximately 35km south of the coastal community of Las Grutas in Río Negro province.[5] Three additional companies — Pampa Energía, Harbour Energy and YPF — announced that they had acquired ownership stakes in the venture and would join forces with Pan American Energy and Golar to develop the project.[2][3][4] A final investment decision was expected in the first quarter of 2025.[4]
The Southern Energy project took a final investment decision in May 2025.[6][7][8] The FID included a 20-year charter and deployment deal for the Hilli Episeyo LNG, owned by Golar.[6][7] The Hilli FLNG is expected to become operational in late 2027.[7] In addition to the first charter agreement, Golar and Southern Energy signed a definitive agreement to charter a second FLNG, Golar's MK II, which is being converted at a shipyard in China and would begin operating in Argentina in 2028.[7][8] Both FLNGs would operate close to each other, in the Gulf of San Matías.[7] Together, both FLNGs will be able to provide a processing and export capacity of around 6 mtpa.[7]
Southern Energy's initial plans include building a pipeline from TGS's San Antonio Oeste compressor station, which connects to the San Martin Pipeline, to the FLNG.[9] This new pipeline would include both onshore and offshore segments.[9] In this way, Southern Energy plans to initially have the Hilli FLNG receive spare gas volumes from the existing pipeline network that carries gas from the Vaca Muerta oil and gas complex.[7] In the future, however, the consortium plans to construct a pipeline from Vaca Muerta to the Gulf of San Matías to supply both vessels with gas from the complex.[7][8]
Opposition
Southern Energy's LNG export project has faced opposition from several environmental and social organizations.[10][11][12] For example, Revista Critica published an article where it highlights the social and environmental consequences of the proposed terminal in the San Matías Gulf and the Valdés Peninsula.[10] In the article, they state that there was no due process to consult the population in the area before modifying the law that would allow the construction of pipelines and terminals in the San Matías Gulf.[10] The article also points out that the gulf is an important area for marine life, including the southern right whale (ballena franca austral in Spanish), since many marine species feed and reproduce there.[10] The article concludes that the construction of an LNG terminal would negatively affect marine biodiversity and the local communities who depend on tourism and fishing, and would have wide-ranging negative economic impacts on the area.[10]
A similar statement published by the Foro para la Conservación del Mar Patagónico y Áreas de Influencia (Forum for the Conservation of the Patagonian Sea and Areas of Influence) stresses the negative consequences that Southern Energy's project would have on the rich marine biodiversity of the Gulf.[11] The authors name, among others, consequences like possible hydrocarbon spills, acoustic changes in the area because of increased marine traffic, and increased risk of underwater collisions with marine animals.[11] Like Revista Critica's article, the Forum highlights that the Gulf of San Matías is an especially important area for the reproduction and socialization of the southern right whale (Eubalaena australis).[11]
The Instituto de Conservación de Ballenas (the Institute of Whale Conservation), has also raised concerns regarding the construction of Southern Energy's LNG terminal in the San Matías Gulf.[12] Like other organizations, the institute also emphasizes that the Gulf is one of the main breeding and reproduction areas of the southern right whale in the world, and they list several natural reserves that are located around the project's area, including Punta Bermeja, Caleta de los Loros, and Bahía de San Antonio.[12] These reserves protect migratory bird habitats, marine mammals, and endemic species.[12] Additionally, the Institute stresses that the area was once protected from hydrocarbon contamination by a law that was recently eliminated and replaced to allow the export of hydrocarbons in the Gulf.[12]
Articles and resources
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 "Golar LNG signs agreement for 20-year FLNG deployment in Argentina". Golar LNG. 2024-07-05.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 "Participation in the FLNG Project for GNL export". Pampa Energia. 2024-11-27.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 "Harbour Energy signs participation agreement". Harbour Energy. 2024-12-02.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 "Local player joins FLNG project seeking to make Argentina an LNG exporter". Offshore Energy. 2024-12-02.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 "Las Grutas bajo presión: el GNL busca avanzar en las costas rionegrinas". Observatorio Petrolero Sur. 2024-12-03.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Riviera - News Content Hub - One FID down for Golar's FLNG project in Argentina, one in the works". www.rivieramm.com. Retrieved 2025-06-06.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 "Argentine consortium, Golar sign charter agreements for two FLNG vessels | Offshore". www.offshore-mag.com. Retrieved 2025-06-06.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 "Exportación de GNL: Southern Energy da pasos claves en el Golfo San Matías para el 2027". mase.lmneuquen.com. Retrieved 2025-06-06.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Cuerpo Madre : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive". Internet Archive. Retrieved 2025-06-06.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 "Oleoducto en el Golfo San Matías: 'Si contamina, no es progreso'". revistacitrica.com. Retrieved 2025-06-06.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Foro para la Conservación del Mar Patagónico. "Organizaciones argentinas del Foro para la Conservación del Mar Patagónico se oponen al proyecto de la terminal petrolera en el Golfo San Matías" (PDF). marpatagonico.org.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 "Preocupación por los Impactos del Proyecto de un Buque Licuefactor en el Golfo San Matías – Instituto de Conservación de Ballenas". ballenas.org.ar. Retrieved 2025-06-06.
