Vaca Muerta Sur Oil Pipeline

[español]

This article is part of the Global Fossil Infrastructure Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor.

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Vaca Muerta Sur Oil Pipeline, known locally by its Spanish name Oleoducto Vaca Muerta Sur, is a proposed oil pipeline in Argentina.

Location

The proposed pipeline would run from the Loma Campana oil field, near the municipality of Añelo in Neuquén province, to a new export facility at the port of Punta Colorada in Río Negro Province, Argentina.

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Project details

• Operator: YPF
• Owner: YPF
• Parent company: YPF
• Capacity: TBD
• Length: 700 kilometers
• Status: Proposed
• Start year: 2026
• Cost: US $2.5 billion

Background

The pipeline was proposed by Argentine state oil company YPF as part of its larger Vaca Muerta Sur project, which would also involve construction of a new export facility at the port of Punta Colorada on the Golfo San Matías. The initial phase of the 700-kilometer pipeline would transport oil from the Loma Campana oil field - in the Vaca Muerta basin of Neuquén province - to the city of Allen. This section of the pipeline is planned to be 127 kilometers long, with a diameter of 20 inches. A second phase would continue east from Allen, initially paralleling the Oldelval Oil Pipeline before turning south to reach the Golfo San Matías. This second phase is planned to run for 40 kilometers, with a diameter of 30 inches. Construction of the pipeline is said to be planned to begin in 2024, with operations starting as early as 2026.

Early cost estimates for building the pipeline have ranged from US $1.2 billion to US $2.5 billion. In February 2023, YPF signaled that it was open to partnering with other companies to help fund development of the project.

The Vaca Muerta Sur Pipeline has faced opposition from local and environmental organizations. Opposing groups, like the Asamblea Defendamos Nuestro Golfo, are concerned about the economic and social impacts of the project on the local population, as well as the project's impacts on the biodiversity around the new export facility in Punta Colorada, in the Golfo de San Matías (San Matías Gulf). Punta Colorada, where the new port would be constructed, is surrounded by at least four protected areas: Península Valdés, Parque Nacional Islote Lobos, Reserva de Usos Múltiples Caleta de Los Loros, and Área Natural Protegida Bahía San Antonio. The biodiversity around this ecoregion comprises different species of birds and marine mammals that feed or reproduce in the area, including whales, elephant seals, Magellanic penguins, cormorants, dolphins, and many others.

There have also been concerns raised regarding the violation of a law (the "ley guardiana del golfo, 3308") that prohibits hydrocarbon extraction and exploration in the San Matías Gulf, which opposers claim to have been disregarded by authorities when the project was proposed. A public hearing for the project was held in August 2023, partly as a result of this situation, with mixed seemingly mixed responses from the audience and the opposing parties.