La Invernada Bajo del Choique Oil Pipeline

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La Invernada Bajo del Choique Oil Pipeline is a proposed oil pipeline in Neuquén province, Argentina.

Location

The proposed pipeline would start in the La Invernada Bajo del Choique oil fields 93 km northwest of Añelo and 184 km northwest of Neuquén city and run 43 km east to a junction with the Oldelval Oil Pipeline near Rincón de los Sauces.

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Project details

• Owner: EMEA (ExxonMobil Exploration Argentina)
• Parent company: ExxonMobil
• Capacity: 60,000 barrels per day
• Length: 43 kilometers
• Diameter: 12 inches
• Status: Proposed
• Start year: 2024
• Cost: US$75 million
• Financing:

Background

In 2015, EMEA (ExxonMobil Exploration Argentina) acquired a 35-year concession on the La Invernada – Bajo del Choique block in the Vaca Muerta shale formation of Neuquén province, Argentina. In 2019, following completion of a successful pilot project, ExxonMobil announced plans to move ahead with development of 90 production wells, a central production facility, and a 55 km oil pipeline that would connect to the Oldelval Oil Pipeline, a separate pipeline project in which ExxonMobil acquired a 21% stake in November 2018.

In June 2019, ExxonMobil executive Daniel De Nigris affirmed that the Invernada Bajo del Choique pipeline was in the final stages of engineering development and that the company expected it to be operational by 2020. However, the pipeline's future remained in doubt due to the sharp drop in oil prices caused by Saudi-Russian competition and the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020.

Exxon's 2021 annual report listed the La Invernada project as "evaluating development plan to tie into planned infrastructure." As of March 2023, there had been no evidence for further development of the pipeline in more than two years, and it was presumed to be shelved.

However, in mid and late 2023, several sources mentioned that ExxonMobil was in the process of launching a pipeline tender to boost its operations in Vaca Muerta. The proposed pipeline, also referred to as the "Bajo del Choique Nordeste pipeline", seems to have been slightly modified as compared to its previous 2019 version. As of November 2023, the proposed 12-inch-diameter pipeline will stretch 43 km, with a potential maximum capacity to transport 60,000 barrels of oil per day. ExxonMobil plans to begin construction of the pipeline in the first half of 2024, with aims to have it start operating later in the year.