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.[1] 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%)[2][3], Pluspetrol (33%)[4][5][6], Chevron (14%)[7][8], Pan American Energy (12%)[4][7][9], Pampa Energía (2%)[10][11], Tecpetrol (2%)[4][7][9]
  • Capacity:
    • Puesto Hernández-Medanito: 22,100 m3 per day[12]
    • Medanito-Allen: 28,800 m3 per day[12]
    • Plaza Huincul-Allen: 4200 m3 per day[12]
    • Challacó-Allen: 2600 m3 per day[12]
    • Allen-Puerto Rosales: 35,600 m3 per day[12][13]
  • Length:
  • Diameter:
  • Start year:
    • Puesto Hernández-Medanito: 1971[15]
    • Medanito-Allen: 1969[15]
    • Plaza Huincul-Allen: 1976[15]
    • Challacó-Allen: 1961[15]
    • Allen-Puerto Rosales: 1993[13][14]
  • Status: Operating[15]

Background

The Oldelval oil pipeline system is operated by Oleoductos del Valle S.A. (“Oldelval”). Oldelval's two largest shareholders are the state-owned Argentine oil and gas company YPF S.A.[1][14] with 37% ownership[16], and Pluspetrol, which already held an 11.9% stake in Oldelval[4][17] prior to acquiring ExxonMobil's 21.3% share in December 2024.[5][6]

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.[18] 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.[19][20] The main pipeline of the Oldelval system runs 513 km from the Allen pumping station to the Bahia Blanca Terminal in Puerto Rosales.[19]

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.[14][18][21]

Capacity

Prior to expansion projects designed to accommodate growing production from the Vaca Muerta region, the Oldelval network's maximum transport capacity was 36,000 m3 per day[22] (226,000 bpd[23]), a figure initially attained in 1998 through the installation of loops and repowering of pumping stations along the main Allen-Puerto Rosales pipeline.[13] Other sources have confirmed similar capacity for the Allen-Puerto Rosales segment of the pipeline, including a 2016 Universidad Nacional de La Plata study that listed a capacity of 35,600 m3 per day for the main section, with lower capacities for several other sections.[12]

In 2013, oil transportation from Allen to Puerto Rosales averaged 135,000 bpd (barrels per day).[24] By 2019, volume had increased to an average of 156,000 bpd.[25] In May 2019, Oldeval announced plans to invest US$100 million to expand its transportation capacity 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.[26] A series of other expansion projects has followed with the ramp-up of production from Vaca Muerta.

December 2021 spill along Oldelval oil pipeline; photo credit Lucas Castillo, La Izquierda Diario
Oil spill in Río Negro province, December 2021; video Lucas Castillo, La Izquierda Diario Multimedia


Project Details: Expansion project (Proyecto Duplicar)

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[31]), aimed at doubling pipeline capacity to 452,000 bpd (72,000 m3/day) by 2024.[22]

Oldelval subsequently announced that the Proyecto Duplicar expansion project would raise total capacity of the Oldelval network to 540,940 barrels per day[28][29] (86,000 m3/day)[29], representing an increase of 50,000 m3/day[32], 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.[28] The expansion involved construction of 455 km of new 24-inch pipeline along the Oldeval network's trunk line between the Allen and Saligral pumping stations[28][29], combined with rerouting of an additional 70 km of pipeline in the Bahía Blanca region[29], resulting in a total project scope of 525 km.[22][29]

As of October 2023, the first phase of the Duplicar project, which runs from Allen to Puerto Rosales, was reported to be operational.[33]

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 obstacles related to imported materials and dollar payments.[27] However, according to the source, the Duplicar Plus project itself was not expected to experience major delays in its timeline. The same media outlet reported a total budget of US$ 1.2 billion for the Duplicar Plus project, with start-up expected in 2025.[27][31]

Throughout 2023 and 2024, Oldelval reported incremental progress on the Duplicar project, recording a 20,000 bpd increase in capacity in October 2023[23], with an additional 80,000 bpd capacity increase anticipated for November 2024.[34]

In a December 2024 year-end report, Oldelval confirmed steady progress on Proyecto Duplicar. By the end of February 2024, the company had completed the soldering of 270 km of pipe (roughly 50% of the project's total length), and by August all 525 km of pipe were connected and ready to receive fuel. Oldeval began filling the new pipeline with crude oil in September 2024, and completed the process in December, putting the project on track to begin commercial operations in March 2025.[30]

Project Details: Expansion project (Proyecto Duplicar Norte)

  • Operator: Oleoductos del Valle SA
  • Owner: Oleoductos del Valle SA
  • Parent company: YPF S.A. (37%)[2][3], Pluspetrol (33%)[4][5][6], Chevron (14%)[7][8], Pan American Energy (12%)[4][7][9], Pampa Energía (2%)[10][11], Tecpetrol (2%)[4][7][9]
  • Capacity:
    • Puesto Hernández-Medanito: 42,000 m3 per day[35]
    • Medanito-Allen: 67,000 m3 per day[35]
  • Length: 240 kilometers[35]
    • Puesto Hernández-Medanito: 130 kilometers
    • Medanito-Allen: 110 kilometers
  • Diameter:
    • Puesto Hernández-Medanito: 24 inches[35]
    • Medanito-Allen: 30 inches[35]
  • Status: Proposed[35][36][37]
  • Start year:
  • Cost: US $500 million[36] to $838 million[35]

Expansion project background (Proyecto Duplicar Norte)

In February 2024, Oldelval announced a tender for the development of a new expansion project known as Proyecto Duplicar Norte.[35] The Duplicar Norte expansion, designed to increase transport capacity in the northwestern section of Oldelval's network, would involve the construction of two new pipeline segments parallel to the existing Puesto Hernández-Medanito and Medanito-Allen pipelines.[35]

Proyecto Duplicar's Puesto Hernández-Medanito segment would measure 24 inches in diameter, with a initial capacity of 42,000 m3 per day, expandable to 58,000 m3 per day.[35] The segment between Medanito and Allen would be 30 inches in diameter, with a initial capacity of 67,000 m3 per day, expandable to 91,000 m3 per day.[35]

In October 2024, Oldelval CEO Ricardo Hösel confirmed his company's intentions to sign contracts for the project by January 2025, with construction to begin in June 2025.[36]

Project Details: Expansion project (Proyecto Triplicar)

  • Operator: Oleoductos del Valle SA
  • Owner: Oleoductos del Valle SA[31][38]
  • Parent company: YPF S.A. (37%)[2][3], Pluspetrol (33%)[4][5][6], Chevron (14%)[7][8], Pan American Energy (12%)[4][7][9], Pampa Energía (2%)[10][11], Tecpetrol (2%)[4][7][9]
  • Capacity: 22,000 to 50,000 m3 per day[39] / ~300,000 barrels per day[31][38]
  • Length: N/A (capacity expansion only)
  • Diameter: N/A (capacity expansion only)
  • Status: Proposed[31][38]
  • Start year: 2026[31][38]
  • Cost: US$1,000 million[31][38]

Expansion project background (Proyecto Triplicar)

In a February 2023 interview with Patagonia Shale, Oldelval CEO Ricardo Hösel hinted at the possibility of a new expansion project known as Proyecto Triplicar. The project described by Mr Hösel would build on the success of Proyecto Duplicar, modifying and boosting the capacity of pumping stations to increase the network's overall capacity, without the addition of any new pipeline segments.[40]

In November 2023, during an Energy Day event organized by EconoJournal, Hösel fleshed out his proposal for further expansions to the Oldelval pipeline network, describing a project with an estimated budget of US$1 billion that would increase the capacity of the Oldelval network by 300,000 barrels per day, to reach an overall dispatch capacity of 1,000,000 barrels for the Neuquén Basin.[31][38] Hösel announced that a tendering process for the project was planned for the first quarter of 2024[31][38], with an eye towards bringing the new capacity online by 2026.[31][38] While Hösel did not attach a name to the new project, his description of it as an immediate follow-up phase to Proyecto Duplicar implied that it was the same expansion previously referred to as Proyecto Triplicar.

In March 2024, EconoJournal announced that Oldelval would launch a tender for the Proyecto Triplicar expansion in April.[39] The project aimed to increase Oldelval's total system capacity to a minimum of 108,000 m3 per day (triple the network's original capacity of 36,000 m3 per day) via the addition of 22,000 m3/day in new capacity beyond the 86,000 m3/day already achieved by Proyecto Duplicar.[39] EconJournal noted that Oldelval was also contemplating a more ambitious expansion known as Triplicar Plus, which would add 50,000 m3/day of new capacity, for a total of 136,000 m3 per day.[39]

Project Details: Expansion Project (Medanito-Puesto Hernández)

Expansion project background (Medanito-Puesto Hernández)

This expansion project was proposed in 2018 to supply an additional 19,000 barrels of oil per day to the Luján de Cuyo refinery, due to the depletion of the Cuyana basin.[42][43] The project was to involve the construction of a new 14-inch, 130-kilometer pipeline running parallel to the existing Puesto Hernández-Medanito pipeline, but flowing in the opposite direction, from Medanito to Puesto Hernández.[42]

Various media outlets reported that efforts to reverse the flow of oil between Puesto Hernández and Medanito began in 2021[43][45], and Oldelval's CEO Ricardo Hösel confirmed that the flow reversal initiative was underway in a 2022 interview with Patagonia Shale.[40] However, it wasn't immediately clear whether these reports implied reversal of flow on the existing Puesto Hernández-Medanito pipeline or preliminary development of a new, parallel section of pipeline between Medanito and Puesto Hernández.

In September 2022, the Argentine government cleared the way for construction of the new Medanito-Puesto Hernández segment by extending Oldelval's concession to operate along this route for a period of 10 years, from November 2027 to November 2037.[41][44] However, as of January 2025 the status of the project remained unclear.

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.[1] Early reports indicated that 3.2 million liters (over 20,000 barrels) of crude were released within the first four days[46], although later reports from Oldelval downgraded the spill's estimated size to 2.5 million liters.[47] 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.[47][48]

Articles and resources

References

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