Gasoducto de la Costa Gas Pipeline

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Gasoducto de la Costa is an operating natural gas pipeline in Argentina.

Location

The pipeline runs to Argentina's Atlantic coast from a junction with the San Martín Gas Pipeline at El Chourrón (Buenos Aires province). It serves the communities of Mar del Plata as well as Miramar, Balcarce, Mar Chiquita, Las Armas, San Clemente and Villa Gesell, among other localities in the region.

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Project Details

• Operator: Camuzzi Gas Pampeana
• Owner: Camuzzi Gas Pampeana
• Parent company: Camuzzi Gas
• Current capacity: 1.68 bcm/y (4.6 MMm³/d)
• Length: 680 km / 423 miles
• Status: Operating
• Start Year: 2004
• Associated infrastructure:
  • San Martín Gas Pipeline

Background

The 680-kilometer Gasoducto de la Costa network was built in 2004 to meet increasing natural gas demand along Argentina's Atlantic Coast. The pipeline starts 10 km northwest of Tandil, Buenos Aires province, at a junction with the San Martín Gas Pipeline, and continues southeast to Mar del Plata, where it branches off to serve other coastal communities.

Expansion Project Details

• Owner: Camuzzi Gas Pampeana
• Proposed expansion of capacity: 50 MMcf/d
• Length:
  • Balcarce expansion: 21 km
  • Mar del Plata expansion: 12 km
  • Tandil expansion: 18 km
• Diameter:
  • Balcarce expansion: 8 inches
  • Mar del Plata expansion: 16 inches
  • Tandil expansion: 20 inches
• Status:
  • Balcarce expansion: Operating
  • Mar del Plata expansion: Operating
  • Tandil expansion: Operating

• Start Year:
  • Balcarce expansion: 2023
  • Mar del Plata expansion: 2023
  • Tandil expansion: 2024

Pipeline Expansion

In September 2015 Argentina's national government announced a A$544 million plan to expand the pipeline's capacity by 30%, from 4.6 to 6.0 million cubic meters per day (162 to 212 million cubic feet per day). Work began on the expansion project in 2017, by which time the projected budget for the 12-month project had increased to A$1.078 billion.

In September 2018, Argentina's National Regulatory Entity of Gas (Enargas) declared the Gasoducto de la Costa technically unfeasible, functionally cancelling the project.

Following the presidential elections of October 2019, Argentina's new government announced that it would revive and prioritize the Gasoducto de la Costa expansion. Subsequent news reports noted that the project was already 85% to 95% complete, yet progress remained stalled.

In June 2021, representatives of the Argentine political party Unión Cívica Radical formally requested that construction be resumed.

In June 2022, three senators from the coastal region of Buenos Aires province demanded a response from the Argentine government regarding the total paralysis of the expansion project, noting that four key pieces of infrastructure remained incomplete. The mayor of Balcarce, Esteban Reino, subsequently reported that one of the four missing sections was nearing completion; however, there was still no news on the other three.

In July 2023, two sections of expanded pipeline - the 21-kilometer, 8-inch Balcarce expansion and the 12-kilometer, 16-inch Mar del Plata expansion - were officially inaugurated, while two other components of the expansion project - the 18-kilometer Tandil pipeline, and the Las Armas compression station - were said to be 80% complete.

In July 2024, the final section of pipeline was placed into service, while work on the Las Armas compressor station continued.