Following a 10-month construction process,  the process of filling-up the first tranche of the Néstor Kirchner gas pipeline began Tuesday. This first stage is scheduled to finish July 9. 

The 573-kilometer-long pipeline’s path starts at the gas treatment plant in Tratayen, Neuquén, located at the heart of the Vaca Muerta shale oil and shale gas deposit, goes through the provinces of Río Negro and La Pampa, all the way to the town of Salliqueló in Buenos Aires province.

“This first stage will allow US$1.7 billion in savings [from gas imports this year]. Savings will grow to US$4 billion in 2024, when it will be operational for the entire year,” Energy Secretary Flavia Royón said in a press release.

Royón said the infrastructure is “ready for operation,” and that the filling process will take 20 days. The first 29 kilometers will be filled up today.

In an interview with Radio con Vos, Royón said that the impact will be “immediate.”

“This was the last year Argentina had to make an important purchase [of natural gas]. From now on, the country will only have to make purchases to meet specific winter peaks, not what it has historically bought.”

The pipeline could help the country obtain its first energy trade surplus in 13 years. It will be progressively injected with about 25 million cubic meters of natural gas.  The process will end on July 9, with the formal inauguration of the pipeline.

The operation will be in charge of TGS, the transportation company Enarsa signed a five-year contract with in the last weeks.

Last month, the construction reached a major milestone when the last of its 50,000 pipes was welded in La Pampa province.

The first tranche of the pipeline was built by companies Techint and SACDE, partly financed by a one-time tax on large fortunes passed in December of 2020. In the coming months, the government will start the bidding stage of the second tranche, which will continue on the same route for another 467 kilometers from Salliqueló, in Buenos Aires province, to San Jerónimo, in southern Santa Fe.

Télam / Herald