Santa Cruz Norte Gas Pipeline

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Santa Cruz Norte Gas Pipeline, known locally as Gasoducto Santa Cruz Norte, is a proposed gas pipeline in Santa Cruz province, Argentina.

Location

The pipeline would start at a junction with the San Martín Pipeline near Pico Truncado and run west to Perito Moreno and Los Antiguos.

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Project Details

• Operator: Distrigas, SA
• Owner: Distrigas, SA
• Parent company:
• Capacity: to be determined
• Length: 320 km / 199 miles
• Diameter:
• Status: Shelved
• Start Year:
• Financing:

Background

The 320-kilometer Gasoducto Santa Cruz Norte was originally announced in January 2005 in conjunction with Phase 2 of the Santa Cruz Sur Gas Pipeline and scheduled for completion between 2006 and 2009. Both projects were designed to bring natural gas to western Santa Cruz province. While the Santa Cruz Sur project proceeded as scheduled, the Santa Cruz Norte pipeline has suffered multiple delays. As of January 2019, all work on the project had been suspended, with project developer BTU under investigation for alleged overpricing, corruption, and irregularities related to the "disappearance" of 950 million Argentine pesos intended for the pipeline project.

In July 2020, Argentina's natural gas regulatory agency ENARGAS listed the Gasoducto Santa Cruz Norte as a top priority among several dormant gas pipeline projects that the national government planned to revive. Plans still called for the proposed pipeline to bring natural gas to communities in western Santa Cruz province including Perito Moreno and Los Antiguos. However, there was no projected date for the pipeline's commissioning, and other project details including capacity and route remained unclear. While the pipeline was originally designed to start at a junction with the San Martín pipeline near Pico Truncado (Santa Cruz province), subsequent reports called for it to start further north at Río Mayo (Chubut province).

As of November 2021, development of the pipeline remained stalled, prompting Santa Cruz province's Chamber of Deputies to call on the federal government to solidify and execute plans for the pipeline's construction. As of September 2022, local government officials were still strongly lobbying for funding to construct the pipeline.

As of July 2023, with no concrete progress in more than two years, the project was presumed to be shelved. News coverage in July 2024 implied that the Santa Cruz Norte project remained stalled, and the 2024 edition of the Argentine government's official pipelines map listed Santa Cruz Norte as an unfinished project.