Last year, the companies Gas y Petróleo del Neuquén; Pan American Energy (PAE); Pluspetrol and Shell Argentina requested the Government to grant a crude oil transportation concession for him pipeline which extends from the Sierras Blancas area, in Neuquén, to the pumping station of the trunk system operated by Oleoductos del Valle (OLDELVAL), located in Allen, Río Negro.
Now, and through Decree 142/2023, signed by President Alberto Fernández, the concession they claimed was ceded according to a 10% participation for the first oil company; the second of 21%; the third of 15% and the fourth of 54%.
The pipeline will serve this group of local oil companies to evacuate their own production, within the framework of an extension of 104 kmapproximately, with a maximum allowable operating pressure (MAPO) of 100 Kg/cm2 and a design flow of 20,000 m3 per day.
According to the presidential decree, the construction work of the aforementioned pipeline “has been completed in its entirety, complying in due time and form with the technical and environmental presentations required in Resolution No. 120 of July 3, 2017 of the former Ministry of Energy and Mining, by which the Technical Regulations for the Transportation by Liquid Hydrocarbons Pipelines (RTDHL) were approved, and by Provision No. 123 of August 30, 2006 of the former Undersecretariat of Fuels, which establishes the Norms of Environmental Protection applicable to liquid hydrocarbon transport systems by oil pipelines, polyducts, maritime terminals and complementary facilities”.
The term of the transportation concession to be granted will be 35 years, without prejudice to any extensions that may apply, which will correspond to three of the four companies since Gas y Petróleo del Neuquén ceded its stake to Shell (6%), and PAE (4%).
According to the norm, the group “has complied with the economic and financial solvency requirements established in Provision No. 335 of December 9, 2019 of the former Undersecretariat of Hydrocarbons”, although it must comply with a periodic presentation of the environmental studies of operation and maintenance, the contingency plan and the monitoring reports.
The pipeline will serve these oil companies to evacuate their own production, within the framework of an extension of 104 km.
They will also have to declare monthly the volumes of liquid hydrocarbons transported; keep their registration updated in the National Registry of Liquid Hydrocarbons Transport Companies through Pipelines and through Maritime Terminals and will be responsible for the annual payment of the control fee for the transportation and collection of hydrocarbons.
In the same way, they will be obliged to allow access to the transport capacity of their system that is not compromised for volumes of hydrocarbons contracted to any shipper that requires it, without discrimination, and for the same rate under equal circumstances.
Looking at Vaca Muerta
The pipeline will serve to expand Vaca Muerta’s unconventional oil transportation capacity; It has a capacity to transport up to 125,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd), which represents a third of the crude oil production in the area, according to official information from the province.
According to a note from the specialized portal Ecojournal, the objective of the business consortium is to increase the crude evacuation capacity of the southern zone of Vaca Muerta, in addition to connecting that region with the OLDEVAL trunk line and its Duplicate Plus project, and will reinforce the basin’s export routes.
This is the first private investment by an operator in the construction of a midstream pipeline in Vaca Muerta and the first investment by Shell Argentina in midstream in 108 years in the country, according to sources from that oil company who also recalled that the pipeline forms Part of company’s massive development project in the Sierras Blancas blocksCruz de Lorena and Coirón Amargo Sur Oeste (CASO).
The company Techint, led by Paolo Rocca, was involved in the construction of the pipeline, which lasted nine months.
Paolo Rocca’s contribution
The company was involved in the construction of the pipeline, which lasted nine months. Techintdirected by Paolo Rocca, in partnership with SIMA, which planned a pipeline that is buried and in some sections has a depth of more than six meters.
It also has a fiber optic layout for leak control and safety and a series of innovations to measure and mitigate in real time the impact of the project.
In the case of PAE, from the Bulgheroni family, the work maintains the holding’s level of investments in the midstream to evacuate production from the Neuquén basin and will allow it to evacuate production from its operated areas Coirón Amargo Sureste (CASE) and Aguada Cánepa .
In relation to Pluspetrol, it is part of the development plan that the oil company has for the coming years in Vaca Muerta and allows it to have more liquid transportation capacity.
