Vaca Muerta: the gas begins its journey to the AMBA

The great day arrived in which the opening of the first valve that will allow the entry of gas to start the journey along an initial section of 29 kilometers. In this way the fluid will begin its journey in a run from the Vaca Muerta oil field with final destination in the Metropolitan Area of ​​Buenos Aires (AMBA).

Subsequently and gradually, as they are activated, other sections will be opened until the fluid completes the entire route and reaches Salliqueló. It is estimated, according to the task schedule, that the arrival at the final destination point will be next July 9.

In this way, a few hours after the opening of the valve, the gas molecules extracted in Vaca Muerta will begin to travel the long journey that will be carried out in several stages. The total route extends along the 570 kilometers of the brand new nestor kirchner pipeline, with a point of origin located in Tratayén, in the province of Neuquén, to the final destination at the other end, in the town of Salliqueló, in the west of the Province of Buenos Aires.

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An extensive journey, in distance and time

It is estimated that the gaseous fluid will take 20 days to complete the entire route of the gas pipeline. It should be noted that since enarsa clarify that usually the gas does not take that long to be transported from one place to another, but rather it does so at a higher speed.

However, this process is much slower in this case, because the gas will have to progress as the different sectors and sections of the gas pipeline are enabled, as the different technical controls are carried out.

ENARSA the owner of the spout

The state company Energía Argentina (ENARSA) is the owner of the Nestor Kirchner gas pipeline that is operated by the company Transportadora de Gas del Sur (TGS), a firm that was awarded for 10 years and has the concession for the large gas pipelines in the south of the country , being its main shareholder Pampa Energía, of the Mindlin Group in partnership with the Petrochemical Investment Group, of the Sielecki family.

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It should be remembered that on May 12, the last welding of the gas pipeline was carried out, after which the necessary hydraulic tests were completed to verify the absence of leaks or cracks. This technique is carried out in sections and under the supervision of Enarsa.

Therefore, the first stage of the work, with a scheduled start date for June 20, extends from the gas treatment plant in the Neuquén town of Tratayén, to the other head in Salliqueló in the province of Buenos Aires. . With the entry into activity, it will be possible to evacuate some 22 million cubic meters of gas daily from the Vaca Muerta field.

tranche checks

There are six sections in total through which the loss control and authorization tasks will be carried out progressively. In this sense, from Enarsa they explained that “advance is made from valve to valve” throughout the entire pipeline. According to the anti-crack control task schedule for the gas pipeline, the checks will begin on Tuesday, June 20.

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The commissioning and commissioning It will be in charge of the Emed measurement station in Tratayén, located at the beginning of the gas pipeline work, and will cover the entire route from kilometer 0 to kilometer 29 of the pipeline.

At a later stage, the phase 2 of the schedulewhich is estimated to take place on June 25, the second section of the gas pipeline will be enabled, from kilometer 29 to 61. One stage will be checked and enabled two days later, in the third section that covers the route from kilometer 61 to 89. Finally, it is expected that on June 29, the fourth section of the pipeline can be enabled, from kilometer 89 to 145.

On the other hand, for completing the tour total of the pipeline and the realization of the gas to the final destination, controls and qualifications will be carried out in two final stages during the month of July: a first date was scheduled for July 4, which will cover the section from kilometer 145 to 285. While the last section, from kilometer 285 to the end, will be controlled and enabled on July 8.

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In this way, it is projected that on July 9 the gas pipeline will be officially declared inaugurated. Once the gas reaches the town of Salliqueló in Buenos Aires, the pipeline connects with the existing gas pipelines in the area and that carry the gas to the entire region of the AMBA.

evacuation capacity

from enarsa noting that in this first stage that includes the journey from 0 to the end in Salliquello, the pipeline will transport 22 million cubic meters of gas per day. This is equivalent to 15% of national gas consumption that is currently supplied with LNG, originating from Bolivia.

In turn, it is expected that upon completion of the construction of the second section of the gas pipeline, which reaches the city of San Jerónimo, in the province of Santa Fe, the volume of gas transported will reach 40 million cubic meters per day.

After energy independence

It took 178 days for the construction tasks of the pipelinefrom the first welding, on November 16, 2022, in Salliqueló, Buenos Aires, to the last one carried out on May 12 in La Pampa.

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But the relevance of this work, which extends over 573 kilometers and its start-up and operation, focuses on the fact that it will promote change in the national energy equation: it will be possible to stop depending on the importation of gas to start consuming nationally produced gas, which translates into full freedom and energy independence.

In this sense, it should be noted that the 22 million cubic meters of gas per day that will be transported in the first stage, from the Dead cow up to AMBA, it represents 15% of national consumption that is currently supplied with LNG originating in Bolivia.

MVB JL