Argentina GNL Terminal

From Global Energy Monitor
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Argentina GNL Terminal is a proposed LNG export terminal in Bahía Blanca, Argentina.

Location

The proposed terminal would be located in the port zone of Bahía Blanca, Buenos Aires province, Argentina.

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Project details

  • Operator: Petronas E&P Argentina SA[1]
  • Owner: YPF, Petronas[2]
  • Parent company: YPF, Petronas[2]
  • Location: Bahía Blanca, Argentina[3]
  • Coordinates: -38.777373, -62.304451 (approximate)
  • Capacity: 5 to 25 mtpa[2][4][5], 15 to 20 million cubic meters per day[3]
  • Cost: 10 billion[6] to 50 billion[2] USD
  • Status: Proposed
  • Type: Export
  • Start year: 2032[4]

Background

In July 2019 YPF awarded a front-end engineering design (Pre-FEED) contract to McDermott International for the construction of a 5-mtpa LNG Terminal for exporting natural gas from Vaca Muerta.[7] The viability of the terminal was to be dependent on construction of the proposed Vaca Muerta pipeline system, which was scuttled by Argentina's new government in 2020. The exact location of the YPF terminal was not yet specified.[8]

As of May 2022, the Argentine government was again reportedly contemplating construction of a land-based LNG liquefaction and export terminal in Bahía Blanca, with a capacity of 15 to 20 million cubic meters per day, to be supplied with gas from Vaca Muerta via the proposed Nestor Kirchner Gas Pipeline. In response to rising natural gas prices and diminishing global supplies provoked by the Russian-Ukraine conflict, Argentina's Economy Minister Martín Guzmán reportedly discussed the new terminal, estimated to require an investment of US $10 billion, at the International Energy Agency's March 2022 meeting in Paris and at the IMF and World Bank's April 2022 gathering in Washington, DC.[3]

In September 2022, Petronas and YPF signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to jointly develop the terminal.[1][4][5][9] Initial investment required to develop the terminal was estimated at $10 billion, with estimated production to start at 5 million tonnes during the first year of operation and eventually climb as high as 25 million tonnes per annum.[4][5] While no start date was specified for the project, YPF and Petronas estimated that it would take a decade to fully develop.[4] LNG European customers affected by the cutoff of Russian fossil gas supplies continued to be seen as the key market for gas shipped from the terminal.[4]

In March 2023, YPF and Petronas announced that they had signed a tentative land lease deal for the proposed terminal with the port of Bahía Blanca. A decision on whether to proceed with a long-term concession agreement was to be contingent on technical, economic, maritime, soil, and environmental evaluations to be carried out by the two companies over the following six months.[2] Plans called for the LNG export terminal to be developed in conjunction with other supporting infrastructure and services, including upstream gas production, dedicated pipelines, and marketing and shipping services.[2] The port of Bahia Blanca estimated that total investment in the project could rise as high as $50 billion.[2]

Following the election in November 2023 of the libertarian economist Javier Milei as Argentina's new president, the terminal's near-term prospects were reported to have been placed in doubt due to Milei's opposition to the state subsidies seen as necessary to advance the project.[10]


Articles and resources

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Petronas, YPF to develop Argentina LNG project". Oil & Gas Journal. September 2, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 "Petronas and YPF ink land deal for large LNG export project in Argentina". LNG Prime. March 1, 2023.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 "El puerto de Bahía Blanca vuelve a escena para la exportación de GNL". ArgenPorts. May 7, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 "Argentina, Petronas ink deal for major LNG plant, gas pipeline". Reuters. September 1, 2022.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Petronas and YPF to work on large LNG export plant in Argentina". LNG Prime. September 2, 2022.
  6. "YPF seeks location for its LNG Terminal". Energy News. June 2, 2022. Retrieved July 25, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. YPF awards McDermott pre-FEED contract for Vaca Muerta LNG in Argentina, World Oil, Jul. 19, 2019
  8. Christopher Lenton, Argentina’s Vaca Muerta, LNG Ambitions Face Uncertainty as New Government Settles In, Natural Gas Intelligence, Feb. 28, 2020
  9. "BNamericas - Inversión de argentina YPF superará los US$5.000mn este año". BNamericas. January 31, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. Kathrine Schmidt, Far-Right Milei Wins Argentina Presidency in Landslide, Energy Intelligence, Nov. 20, 2023

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External resources

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