Gas transporter TGS, controlled by Pampa Energía, has proposed an US$800 million pipeline and gas treatment plant in Argentina's Vaca Muerta shale fields.
Gas transporter TGS, controlled by Pampa Energía, has proposed an $800 million pipeline and gas treatment plant in Argentina's Vaca Muerta shale fields, aiming to address a key barrier to increasing production.
The project, subject to approval by the government of Neuquen province, could be built in a year and a half and would transport gas produced by companies including state-run YPF SA, Tecpetrol, Dow Argentina and Exxon Mobil Corp.
Argentina's President Mauricio Macri has made attracting investment to ramp up natural gas production a priority of his government, which is trying to end reliance on costly energy imports. But expanded output is limited by current pipeline capacity in the remote, Belgium-sized fields.
"Producers always say that a new pipeline will be needed for the next shale and tight gas drilling phase in Vaca Muerta," said a TGS source.
So far this year, ExxonMobil, BP Unit Pan American Energy, Wintershall, Total,and Statoil have announced investments in Vaca Muerta.
Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» in Vaca Muerta are currently moving 60 million m3/d (2119 ft3) of natural gas and have capacity for 75 million, oil companies say.