A consortium made up of Shell, Pan American Energy (PAE) and Pluspetrol will inaugurate this Tuesday the Sierras Blancas-Allen pipeline, which will increase the capacity to transport oil from Vaca Muerta to refineries and export points.
The pipeline, 105 kilometers long and 16 inches in diameter, will link the Sierras Blancas oil production area in Vaca MuertaShell’s operations center in the Neuquén formation, with the pumping station located in the Río Negro town of Allen.
The pipeline will have the capacity to transport up to 125,000 barrels oil daily.
The work will make it possible to expand the current network, pave the way to increase production and facilitate the evacuation of crude oil to refineries in the province of Buenos Aires and export points by relieving the existing bottleneck in midstream infrastructure due to the strong increase of production that was produced in Vaca Muerta.
The inauguration ceremony, which will take place at noon in Sierras Blancas, in Neuquén, is attended by the Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa; the Secretary of Energy, Flavia Royon; and the governors of Río Negro, Arabela Carreras, and of Neuquén, Omar Gutiérrez, among other national, provincial and municipal authorities.
The project has been in operation since the end of last year.
Was built in a record time of just nine months and is the Shell’s first investment in midstream in its 108 years of presence in the country.
The project consortium is made up of Shell, as the winner and leader (with a 60% stake), Pan American Energy (25%) and Pluspetrol (15%); and the construction of the pipeline was in charge of Techint-SIMA.
The operation is in charge of Oleoductos del Valle (Oldelval).
