Argentina GNL Gas Pipeline

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Argentina GNL Gas Pipeline is a proposed gas pipeline in Argentina.

Location

The pipeline is proposed to run from the Vaca Muerta gas fields of Neuquén province to the Argentina GNL export terminal at Punta Colorada in Río Negro province. The pipeline's route would roughly parallel the Vaca Muerta Sur Oil Pipeline currently in development.

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Project details

• Operator: YPF, Petronas
• Owner: YPF, Petronas
• Parent company: YPF, Petronas
• Capacity: TBD
• Length: 640 km
• Diameter: 36 in
• Status: Proposed
• Start year: 2027
• Cost:
• Financing:
• Associated infrastructure: Argentina GNL Terminal

Background

The Argentina GNL pipeline was proposed in 2024 to transport gas from the shale gas fields of Vaca Muerta to the newly announced Argentina GNL terminal in Río Negro province. Gas transported through the pipeline would be liquefied at the Argentina GNL terminal for export to other countries.

The pipeline was announced as a three-phase project, with the first phase to be completed by 2027. Early reports indicated that the pipeline would be 640 km in length and 36 inches in diameter, but as of September 2024 the project's capacity, route, and the exact nature of the individual phases remained unclear.

Environmental and Social Impacts

Punta Colorada, located on Golfo San Matías along Argentina's Atlantic coast, marks not only the eastern terminus of the Argentina GNL Gas Pipeline and the proposed site for YPF's Argentina LNG export terminal; it has also been chosen as the end point for the Vaca Muerta Sur Oil Pipeline and its associated oil export terminal. The judicial, legislative, and executive branches of Río Negro province have played a key role in making these projects viable by removing legislation that recognized Golfo San Matías as a protected natural area. In August 2022, Law 3308, which prohibited the construction of oil ports along the gulf, was swiftly repealed behind closed doors.

Argentine environmental groups have stressed that the convergence of so many major oil and gas projects at Punta Colorada implies the expansion of hydrocarbon infrastructure to new regions, affecting the livelihoods of local people and impacting a vast diversity of flora and fauna. There is concern that these projects could harm Península Valdés, a habitat for protected species such as southern right whales, orcas, South American sea lions, southern elephant seals, dusky dolphins, and Magellanic penguins, among others, impacting both wildlife and tourism in the region.

Opposition

Leading Argentine NGOs such as Observatorio Petrolero Sur, FARN (Fundación Ambiente y Recursos Naturales) and Greenpeace Argentina have spoken out forcefully against the new oil and gas projects proposed along the Río Negro coast, organizing protests and promoting political and legal action to challenge new hydrocarbons development in the region.