July 23, 2023, 4:00 AM
July 23, 2023, 4:00 AM
The government of Argentina, through Resolution 606/2023, instructed the Wholesale Electricity Market Administration Company (Cammesa) finance the money that is missing for the reversal of the Northern Gas Pipeline, whose total investment is estimated at 700 million dollars.
The government provision arose as a result of YPFB does not guarantee the provision of the total of natural gas from next year.
“Recently, Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB) informed and formally notified ENARSA that as of the year 2024 the firm supply of natural gas will not be guaranteed and that from the date mentioned the service will be interruptible in its entirety ”, indicates the Resolution that bears the signature of the Secretary of Energy, Flavia Royón and to which EL DEBER agreed.
The information was also disclosed by various means Argentines. Three queries were sent to YPFBbut no response was received.
Faced with this situation, the government of the neighboring country seeks to accelerate the reversal of the Northern Gas Pipeline due to the high risk of shortages of natural gas and electricity to users of the center and north of the country, since the main thermoelectric plants they depend on gas imported from Bolivia and do not have the possibility of using liquid fuels as an alternative.
Its objective is to ensure the energy supply, mainly for the winter season of 2024, when the demand for natural gas grows.
The director of Enarsa, Víctor Bronstein, said that the thermoelectric plants are in Tucumán and Saltawhich run solely on natural gas and contribute 3,500 megawatts (MW), that represent 10% of the power capacity of the electrical system of your country.
Argentina needs more than $160 million of the total amount for the reversal project of the Gas Pipeline dthe North because it has the loan approved by the Andean Development Corporation (CAF) for US$540 million.
With Resolution 606/2023, the Ministry of Energy seeks that Cammesa finance that amount to face the works complementary to the aforementioned project, which is a priority of the current government, in order to ensure the supply of natural gas after the recent formal notification of YPFB.
“Carry out a reimbursable credit operation with the funds as of June 30, 2023 from the Export Account of the Fund of Stabilization of the Wholesale Electricity Market (MEM) created by Resolution 1,037 of October 13, 2021”, mentions the government provision that was approved three days ago.
The economist and analyst on hydrocarbon issues, Gabriel Gaite, considered that this is the sad reality of the sector in the country due to the decrease in natural gas production.
In your opinion, mAs long as there is no discovery of importance, there is no other option and Argentina it has enough gas from the huge Vaca Muerta field.
“It is already in the process of connecting its own gas pipelines to supply its market and, as is to be expected, to export to neighboring countries in the near future.Gaite responded when asked about the reversal of the Northern Gas Pipeline.
At YPFB they are aware of Resolution 606/2023 issued by the Ministry of Energy and there was no official pronouncement regard.
The Argentine government provision came to light six days after the last meeting between the Secretary of Energy, Flavia Royónand the president of the Bolivian oil company, Armin Dorgathen, in Buenos Aires on July 12.
On that occasion it was Royón who disclosed the meeting with Dorgathen on his twitter account and where he realized that they discussed the supply of natural gas from Bolivia to his country, although he did not divulge further details.
The Argentine official also referred to the exchange on the possibility of exporting natural gas to Brazil using existing transportation infrastructure in the country. Former President Jaime Paz Zamora disagrees with YPFB’s position of renting the gas pipeline for Argentina to conquer the Brazilian market.
“I think it will be a kind of prostitution if that is done with the gas pipeline, delivering one of the goods that we have made in history to the first one that tells us something and in the face of the first crisis that is coming we are giving up”.
