Sierras Blancas-Allen Oil Pipeline

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This article is part of the Global Fossil Infrastructure Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor.

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The Sierras Blancas-Allen Oil Pipeline is an operating oil pipeline in Argentina.

Location

The Sierras Blancas pipeline runs from Shell's Sierras Blancas oil and gas field in Neuquén province to the Allen pumping station in Río Negro province, Argentina.

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Project details

• Operator: Oleoductos del Valle SA
• Owner: Shell (60%), Pan American Energy (25%), Pluspetrol (15%)
• Parent company: Shell (60%), Pan American Energy (25%), Pluspetrol (15%)
• Capacity: 125,000 barrels per day (19,900 m³ per day)
• Length: 105 kilometers
• Diameter: 16 inches
• Status: Operating
• Start year: 2022
• Cost: US$85 million

Background

The Sierras Blancas-Allen Oil Pipeline is designed to feed oil from Shell's Sierras Blancas oil and gas field into the Oldelval oil pipeline system for onward transport elsewhere in Argentina, including the export facilities and refineries of Buenos Aires province. The pipeline is operated by Oleoductos del Valle (Oldelval) and owned by a consortium made up of Shell (60%), Pan American Energy (25%) and Pluspetrol (15%).

Construction of the 105-kilometer, 16-inch pipeline began in early 2022 and was completed in nine months. Commercial operations began at the end of 2022, and the pipeline was officially inaugurated in February 2023.

The pipeline, which represents Shell's first midstream investment in Argentina after more than a century operating in the country, was designed to help alleviate existing oil transport bottlenecks and allow a ramp-up of production from Shell's oil fields in the Vaca Muerta formation in Neuquén province. As of February 2023, the pipeline had already allowed Shell to increase production at the Sierras Blancas field from 6,000-8,000 barrels per day in 2018 to 45,000 bpd.