The Malaysian oil and gas company Petronas and Argentina’s state-owned oil and gas company YPF have signed an initial land lease deal with the port of Bahia Blanca (Buenos Aires province) to develop an up to 25 Mt/year LNG export terminal. The first phase of the project includes a production of 5 Mt/year of LNG with an investment worth about US$10bn. The total project investment could reach US$50bn.
The project is destined to liquefy and export natural gas from the Vaca Muerta field’s large shale gas resources. Vaca Muerta has estimated gas reserves at around 8,700 bcm and oil reserves at 16.2 Gbl. It is estimated to be the second largest unconventional gas reserve and the fourth largest oil reserve of its kind in the world, with only 7% of its potential developed. A 600 km pipeline to carry gas from the field to the future terminal is also being developed.
Argentina does not currently produce or export LNG. The country’s natural gas production dropped by 8% in 2020 and stabilised in 2021 to 40.6 bcm. Proved conventional gas reserves amounted to around 400 bcm (end of 2021).
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