The first welding of the pipes of the President Néstor Kirchner Gas Pipeline was carried out near the Buenos Aires town of Salliqueló, where one of the works fronts of the pipeline that will be built to allow a greater evacuation of natural gas from Vaca Muerta, in Neuquén, is located. .
The progress in each objective of the process of Construction is being carried out according to the schedule established by the state company Energía Argentina which has the commitment to deliver the operational qualification of the pipeline by June 2023.
The concretion of the work would allow the energy balance to cease to be in deficit next year, to which is added an export potential from future expansions.
The state company reported that the welding allowed the first union of the 12-meter-long 36-inch pipes, manufactured at the Tenaris-SIAT plant of Valentín Alsina, which are part of a total of 48,000 that the work will require.
The tubes are transferred to the different collection centers of the trace where they are welded on the surface, forming sections that are later placed in the trenches..
This milestone in the construction process took place in the vicinity of Salliqueló, corresponding to the third section of the gas pipeline, which runs from kilometer 440 of the route to the Saturno compression plant.
In parallel, and as part of the simultaneous work carried out on the construction site in all sections, teams continue to be mobilized and camps set up in sections 1 and 2.
Double joint plants were also set up and automatic welders will be addeda technology that will be used for the first time in the country, achieving a substantial reduction in work times.
The gas pipeline will increase the production of Vaca Muerta, expand the gas transportation capacity and make it reach the consumption centers.
The first section of the GPNK will have an extension of 573 kilometersand will join the Neuquén town of Tratayén to Salliqueló, crossing Río Negro and La Pampa.
It also includes ADDITIONAL wORKS such as the 73-kilometer (30-inch) Mercedes-Cardales gas pipeline, the expansion of a 29-kilometer (30-inch) stretch of NEUBA II in the province of Buenos Aires, and a 15,000-hp compression plant in Cardales.
The project will save more than US$ 2.9 billion a year Between fuel import substitution and reduction of subsidies, the availability of gas at competitive prices for industry, businesses and homes will increase.
The works in progress will generate in the work peak about 10 thousand direct jobs Y another 40 thousand indirectbetween the construction of the work and the greater production of gas in the Vaca Muerta formation.
Precisely, To supply the 11 million cubic meters per day (MMm3) of gas that the new trunk gas pipeline will require, the national government formally launched the Gas IV and V plan, through which the operating companies will be able to offer their incremental production.
At the same time, Energía Argentina on September 5 launched the call for public tender for the elaboration of the extended basic engineering of the second stage of the GPNK, whose trace will extend from Salliqueló to San Jerónimo, that is to say, a section of 583 kilometers.
The works in the second stage will allow expand the capacity of the national system by 25% of trunk pipeline transportationvaluing the reserves of Vaca Muerta.
It is expected that The works will have a term of 120 calendar days and in addition to basic engineering, they include the cadastral survey and the preparation of the gas pipeline planimetry, explained the state company.
For this instance, Argentina and Brazil are advancing in the negotiations for the financing of the second stage of the work, through the teams of Energía Argentina, the Ministries of Economy of Argentina and Brazil, the foreign ministries and the National Bank. of Brazilian Development (Bndes).
