Oldelval Oil Pipeline

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Oldelval Oil Pipeline is an oil pipeline system in Argentina.

Location

The Oldelval network is Argentina's largest oil pipeline system. The network consists of several branches, which connect the Puesto Hernández oil field in Neuquén province with the Oiltanking EBYTEM Terminal in Puerto Rosales (Buenos Aires province). A side branch of the system also connects to YPF's Plaza Huincol refinery in Neuquén province.

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Project Details

• Operator: Oleoductos del Valle SA
• Owner: Oleoductos del Valle SA
• Parent company: YPF S.A. (37%), ExxonMobil (21%), Chevron (14%), Pluspetrol (11.9%), Pan American Energy (11.9%), Pampa Energía (2.1%), Tecpetrol (2.1%)
• Capacity:
  • Puesto Hernández-Medanito: 22,100 m³ per day
  • Medanito-Allen: 28,800 m³ per day
  • Plaza Huincul-Allen: 4200 m³ per day
  • Challacó-Allen: 2600 m³ per day
  • Allen-Puerto Rosales: 35,600 m³ per day
• Length:
  • Puesto Hernández-Medanito: 130 kilometers
  • Medanito-Allen: 110 kilometers
  • Plaza Huincul-Allen: 135 kilometers
  • Challacó-Allen: 112 kilometers
  • Allen-Puerto Rosales: 513 kilometers
• Diameter:
  • Puesto Hernández-Medanito: 14 inches
  • Medanito-Allen: 16 inches
  • Plaza Huincul-Allen: 10.75 inches
  • Challacó-Allen: 14 inches
  • Allen-Puerto Rosales: 14 inches
• Status: Operating
• Start year: 1993

Background

The Oldelval oil pipeline system is operated by Oleoductos del Valle S.A. (“Oldeval”), whose largest shareholder is the state-owned Argentine oil and gas company YPF S.A. Oldelval's pipeline network is divided into five main sections of pipeline stretching across the four provinces of Neuquén, Río Negro, La Pampa and Buenos Aires. In total, Oldelval operates 1700 km of pipeline, much of which transports oil to the Allen pumping station from major production zones in Neuquén province including Rincón de los Sauces and Challacó. The system includes 16 pumping stations, at Puesto Hernández, A. Mahuida, Crucero Catriel, Medanito, La Escondida, Lago Pellegrini, Challaco, Centenario, Allen, Chichinales, Chimpay, Zorrilla, P. Mahuida, Río Colorado, Algarrobo and Salitral. The main pipeline of the Oldelval system runs 513 km from the Allen pumping station to the Bahia Blanca Terminal in Puerto Rosales.

Connections with other pipelines

At its western extremity in Puesto Hernández, the OldelVal System feeds into YPF's Puesto Hernández-Luján de Cuyo Oil Pipeline, which continues north to YPF's Luján de Cuyo refinery.

At its eastern extremity in Puerto Rosales, the OldelVal System connects with the Puerto Rosales-La Plata Oil Pipeline, which sends oil north to YPF's La Plata refinery near Buenos Aires.

Capacity

The Oldelval system's transport capacity has increased over time to accommodate growing production from the Vaca Muerta region. In 2013, oil transportation from Allen to Puerto Rosales averaged 135,000 bpd (barrels per day). By 2019, volume had increased to an average of 156,000 bpd. In May 2019, Oldeval announced plans to invest US$100 million to expand its transportation capacity by 38% over the next year to handle growing output from Vaca Muerta; the proposed expansion was to include modernizing four pump stations and a storage tank facility, as well as installing new flow meters and other infrastructure. By September 2022, the capacity of the Oldelval pipeline system had reached 226,000 bpd (36,000 m³/day).

December 2021 spill along Oldelval oil pipeline; photo credit Lucas Castillo, La Izquierda Diario

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Oil spill in Río Negro province, December 2021; video Lucas Castillo, La Izquierda Diario Multimedia

Project Details: Expansion project (Proyecto Duplicar)

• Operator: Oleoductos del Valle SA
• Owner: Oleoductos del Valle SA
• Parent company: YPF S.A. (37%), ExxonMobil (21%), Chevron (14%), Pluspetrol (11.9%), Pan American Energy (11.9%), Pampa Energía (2.1%), Tecpetrol (2.1%)
• Capacity: 315,000 barrels per day
• Length: 525 kilometers
• Diameter: 24 inches
• Status: Construction
• Start year: 2025
• Cost: US$1,200 million

Expansion project background (Proyecto Duplicar)

In September 2022, Oldelval announced plans to invest US $750,000 million in an expansion project known as Proyecto Duplicar (also referred to as Duplicar Plus), aimed at doubling pipeline capacity to 452,000 bpd (72,000 m³/day) by 2024.

Oldelval subsequently announced that the Proyecto Duplicar expansion project would raise total capacity of the Oldelval network to 540,940 barrels per day (86,000 m³/day), representing an increase of 50,000 m³/day, or approximately 315,000 barrels per day, over the 226,000 bpd operating capacity reported by Reuters in 2022.

As of February 2023, construction of the Proyecto Duplicar expansion was reportedly underway and scheduled for completion within 22 months. The expansion involves construction of 455 km of new 24-inch pipeline along the Oldeval network's trunk line between the Allen and Saligral pumping stations, combined with rerouting of an additional 70 km of pipeline in the Bahía Blanca region, resulting in a total project scope of 525 km.

As of October 2023, the first phase of the Duplicar project, which runs from Allen to Puerto Rosales, was reported to be operational.

In November 2023, Argentinian news media +e (MásEnergía) reported that, although construction of the second phase of the Duplicar project was underway with 200 kilometers of pipelines already pieced together, there appeared to be some delays related to imported materials and dollar payments. However, according to the source, the Duplicar Plus project itself will not experience major delays in its timeline. The same media outlet reported that the Duplicar Plus project, which is planned to begin operations in 2025, has a total budget of US$ 1,200 million.

Project Details: Expansion Project (Medanito-Puesto Hernández)

• Operator:
• Owner: Oleoductos del Valle SA
• Parent company: YPF S.A. (37%), ExxonMobil (21%), Chevron (14%), Pluspetrol (11.9%), Pan American Energy (11.9%), Pampa Energía (2.1%), Tecpetrol (2.1%)
• Capacity:
• Length: 130 kilometers
• Diameter: 14 inches
• Status: Proposed
• Start year:
• Cost: US$1,650 million

Expansion project background (Medanito-Puesto Hernández)

This expansion project was proposed in 2018 to supply the Luján de Cuyo refinery, due to the depletion of the Cuyana basin. The project appears to comprises the reversal of the existing Puesto Hernández - Medanito pipeline, which already began in 2021, as well as the construction of another parallel pipeline that will expand the pipeline's transport capacity. In this way, the pipeline will be able to provide around 19,000 barrels per day to the refinery.

Project Details: Expansion project (Unnamed)

• Operator:
• Owner: Oleoductos del Valle SA
• Parent company: YPF S.A. (37%), ExxonMobil (21%), Chevron (14%), Pluspetrol (11.9%), Pan American Energy (11.9%), Pampa Energía (2.1%), Tecpetrol (2.1%)
• Capacity: 300,000 barrels per day
• Length:
• Diameter:
• Status: Proposed
• Start year: 2026
• Cost: US$1,000 million

Expansion project background (Unnamed)

In November 2023, during the Energy Day event organized by EconoJournal, Oldeval's CEO, Ricardo Hösel, announced a new, so far unnamed expansion project for the Oldeval oil pipelines network. The project, which would have a budget of US$1,000 million, would increase the capacity of the Oldeval network by 300,000 barrels per day, to reach an overall dispatch capacity of 1,000,000 barrels for the Neuquén Basin. Hösel also announced that a tendering process for the project was planned for the first quarter of 2024. The project is planned to be operational by 2026 and, according to the CEO's announcement, would be somewhat similar to the Proyecto Duplicar Plus.

Ricardo Hösel has previously spoken of the Proyecto Triplicar, which involves modifying and boosting the capacity of pumping stations to increase the network's overall capacity. As of January 2024, it is still unclear if this expansion project is the same as the Proyecto Triplicar.

Oil spills

In December 2021, a major oil spill occurred along a 16-inch section of the Oldelval pipeline between the Medanito and Crucero Catriel pumping stations in Río Negro province. The spill was reportedly Argentina's largest in the past decade. Early reports indicated that 3.2 million liters (over 20,000 barrels) of crude were released within the first four days, although later reports from Oldelval downgraded the spill's estimated size to 2.5 million liters. As of January 2022, the damaged section of pipe had been replaced, but the cause of the spill was yet to be determined and cleanup operations were still underway.