Energia Argentina to buy turbocompressors

Oil pump jacks are seen at the Vaca Muerta shale oil and gas deposit in the Patagonian province of Neuquen, Argentina. (Photo: Reuters.)

Argentina’s state energy company Energia Argentina has launched a tender to buy gas compressors for the Tratayen and Salliquelo compressor stations.

A notice posted on the company’s webpage said the compressors would be part of the initial phase of the 1040 km pipeline, which will run from Tratayen in the Vaca Muerta shale formation to the Saturno compressor plant near Salliquelo., about 558 km. Additional compressor stations are planned at Casa de Piedra, Chacharramendi and Doblas, according to local media reports.

The first phase of the pipeline will be capable of transporting 530MMcf/d. Offers for the first two compressor stations are due by Sept. 2.

The lack of takeaway capacity from the Neuquen province has restricted oil and gas production in the Vaca Muerta shale formation. Transportadora Gas del Sur (TGS) and Transportadora Gas del Norte (TGN) formed a joint venture to develop a new pipeline from the region.

In February, the Argentine federal government authorized Energia Argentina to make plans to construct the first phase of the pipeline, which it hoped to be complete by the winter of 2023. In June, Energia Argentina signed a contract with Tenaris to provide about 650 km of 30- and 36-inch pipe.

Energía Argentina said the goal of the project is to boost supply from the Vaca Muerta formation to Argentina’s population centers and to reduce the country’s dependence on LNG imports.