Argentina GNL Terminal
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Argentina GNL Terminal is a proposed LNG export terminal near Sierra Grande, Argentina.
Location
The proposed terminal would be located in the port of Punta Colorada on Argentina's Atlantic coast, near the community of Sierra Grande, Río Negro province.
Project details
- Operator: Petronas E&P Argentina SA[1]
- Owner: YPF, Petronas[2]
- Parent company: YPF, Petronas[2]
- Location: Port of Punta Colorada, Sierra Grande, Río Negro, Argentina[3]
- Coordinates: -41.696000, -65.018265 (approximate)[4]
- Capacity: 5 to 30 mtpa[2][5][6][7][8]
- Status: Proposed
- Type: Export
- Start year:
- Cost: 10 billion[10] to 30 billion[11][12] USD
- Financing:
- FID Status: pre-FID (2025)[8][9][13][14][15]
- Associated infrastructure: Argentina GNL Gas Pipeline
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.[16] 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.[17]
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.[7]
In September 2022, Petronas and YPF signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to jointly develop the terminal.[1][5][6][18] 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.[5][6] While no start date was specified for the project, YPF and Petronas estimated that it would take a decade to fully develop.[5] 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.[5]
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 November 2023 election of libertarian economist Javier Milei as Argentina's new president, the terminal's near-term prospects appeared jeopardized by Milei's opposition to state subsidies.[19] As of May 2024, YPF's president and CEO Horacio Marín was lobbying for Senate approval of the RIGI (Régimen de Incentivos para las Grandes Inversiones), a government incentive program deemed indispensable for a massive infrastructure investment such as Argentina GNL.[20] The RIGI was approved in late June 2024, creating a new legal framework designed to attract multi-million dollar domestic and international investment in Argentine energy projects.[21]
In August 2024, Petronas and YPF announced that they had decided to locate the new gas liquefaction plant at the Port of Punta Colorada[3] near Sierra Grande (Río Negro province) rather than Bahía Blanca; the cost to develop the Sierra Grande terminal was estimated at US$30 billion.[11][12] Reports indicated that the reconfigured project might incorporate FLNGs (floating liquefied natural gas facilities).[22] A final investment decision on the terminal was expected in the second half of 2025[8][13], with export volume expected to reach between 25 and 30 mtpa by 2032.[8]
The Argentina GNL terminal would be developed in three phases. Phase 1, proposed to come online in 2027, would revolve around Petronas’s existing 1.2 mtpa Satu FLNG. A second phase scheduled for 2029 commissioning would involve the contracting of two new vessels with a total capacity of 8 to 9 mtpa. The third and final phase, with an estimated capacity of 15 to 20 mtpa, would be based onshore, with a start-up date between 2030 and 2032.[9] Gas for the project would be supplied via the proposed Argentina GNL Gas Pipeline.
Environmental and Social Impacts
In addition to housing the Argentina GNL terminal and gas pipeline, Punta Colorada, located on Golfo San Matías along Argentina's Atlantic coast, has also been designated as the eastern terminus of the recently proposed Vaca Muerta Sur Oil Pipeline and its huge 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[23], was swiftly repealed behind closed doors.[24]
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.[25] 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.[26][27]
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.[28][29][30][31]
Articles and resources
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Petronas, YPF to develop Argentina LNG project". Oil & Gas Journal. September 2, 2022.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 "Petronas and YPF ink land deal for large LNG export project in Argentina". LNG Prime. March 1, 2023.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Penelli, Sebastián D. (2024-07-31). "Río Negro prevails over Buenos Aires for construction of new LNG plant". Buenos Aires Herald.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Puerto público · Punta Colorada, Río Negro, Argentina". Google Maps. Retrieved 2024-09-13.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 "Argentina, Petronas ink deal for major LNG plant, gas pipeline". Reuters. September 1, 2022.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "Petronas and YPF to work on large LNG export plant in Argentina". LNG Prime. September 2, 2022.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "El puerto de Bahía Blanca vuelve a escena para la exportación de GNL". ArgenPorts. May 7, 2022.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 "YPF, Petronas Target FID for Argentine LNG Facility in Late 2025". Hart Energy. 2024-08-16.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 "Los detalles de la mega inversión de GNL que YPF y Petronas llevarán a Río Negro". Más Energía. 2024-07-31.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "YPF seeks location for its LNG Terminal". Energy News. June 2, 2022. Retrieved July 25, 2022.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 11.0 11.1 "YPF y la salida del GNL: "la locación más ventajosa es Sierra Grande, en Río Negro"". Mejor Energía. 2024-07-31.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Petronas, YPF select Rio Negro for $30bn LNG project". Gasworld. 2024-08-01.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 13.0 13.1 "GECF Annual Gas Market Report 2024 (p 108)" (PDF). GECF (Gas Exporting Countries Forum). 2024-04-22.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ Palmigiani, Fabio (2024-03-12). "Final investment decision delayed for Argentine LNG project". Upstream Online.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "YPF expects FID on first phase of Argentina LNG project in 2025". LNG Prime. 2024-03-11.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ YPF awards McDermott pre-FEED contract for Vaca Muerta LNG in Argentina, World Oil, Jul. 19, 2019
- ↑ Christopher Lenton, Argentina’s Vaca Muerta, LNG Ambitions Face Uncertainty as New Government Settles In, Natural Gas Intelligence, Feb. 28, 2020
- ↑ "BNamericas - Inversión de argentina YPF superará los US$5.000mn este año". BNamericas. January 31, 2023.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ Kathrine Schmidt, Far-Right Milei Wins Argentina Presidency in Landslide, Energy Intelligence, Nov. 20, 2023
- ↑ "Horacio Marín: "Sin el RIGI no hay construcción de la planta de LNG en la Argentina"". EconoJournal. 2024-05-13.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ Iglesia, Facundo (2024-06-28). "RIGI: understanding Argentina's new large investment regime". Buenos Aires Herald.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Petronas plans FLNG project in Suriname". LNG Prime. 2024-08-08.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Ley Nº 3308". Legislatura de Río Negro. 1999-08-27.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "A puertas cerradas modificaron una ley que protegía el golfo San Matías en Río Negro". ANRed. 2022/08/26.
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: Check date values in:|date=
(help)CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Puertos petroleros en Bahía Blanca y el Golfo San Matías: ¿Cómo esperar algo diferente?". Observatorio Petrolero Sur. 2024-03-01.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Organizaciones argentinas del Foro para la Conservación del Mar Patagónico se oponen al proyecto de la terminal petrolera en el Golfo San Matías" (PDF). Foro para la Conservación del Mar Patagónico. 2023-08-17.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Un colectivo de entidades ambientales, sociales, culturales y empresariales solicitan ante la Justicia que Chubut actúe para detener el avance de un puerto petrolero en el Golfo San Matías". Instituto de Conservación de Ballenas. 2024-01-04.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Ambientalistas de Argentina protestarán contra la construcción de un puerto petrolero". infobae. 2024-07-30.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "¡Urgente! Quieren modificar la ley que evita la contaminación en el Golfo San Matías de Río Negro para convertirlo en zona de sacrificio petrolero". Fundación Greenpeace Argentina. 2022-09-08.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Golfo San Matías: organizaciones logran que se suspenda la Audiencia Pública por el oleoducto". Observatorio Petrolero Sur. 2023-03-20.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Vaca Muerta Sur: tensión y sólo voces a favor en una cuestionada audiencia pública". Observatorio Petrolero Sur. 2023-08-18.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link)