Petrobras Imports Natural Gas from Argentina's Vaca Muerta

Written by Amir Richani for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Petrobras (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) imported its first natural gas from Argentina's Vaca Muerta reserve, opening a new frontier for the Brazilian company. The import was symbolic, involving the transport of 100,000 cubic meters of natural gas.

The company has a contract to import up to 2 million cubic meters of natural gas per day on an interruptible basis.

Petrobras maintains hydrocarbons extraction operations in Argentina's Vaca Muerta through its subsidiary, POSA, which owns a 33.6% stake at the Rio Neuquen field, located between the Neuquen and Rio Negro provinces.

This import opens opportunities for Petrobras by allowing the company to expand its natural gas suppliers and by having direct access to its production in Argentina.

"This first operation is a significant milestone for Petrobras, made possible by the integration of infrastructure and enabling the connection of Petrobras' own production in Argentina, through its subsidiary POSA, with the domestic market," said Angelica Laureano, Petrobras' Director of Energy Transition and Sustainability.

More importantly, this move underscores how Vaca Muerta's expanded infrastructure is transforming Argentina from a natural gas importer from Bolivia into a natural gas exporter.

To reach Brazil, Vaca Muerta's natural gas must pass through new midstream assets, such as the Perito Moreno natural gas pipeline, and undergo pipeline modifications like the Reversion del Gasoducto Norte, which reversed the flow of the existing infrastructure from Argentina to Bolivia.

Besides the Perito Moreno and Reversion del Gasoducto Norte, the Argentine government is promoting the development of new gas infrastructure to further expand Vaca Muerta's outreach. Among the projects currently under construction is Southern Energy's floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, which aims to export Vaca Muerta's gas as LNG to international markets by deploying two floating terminals with a total capacity of 5.95 million tons per year. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Project Database can click here to learn more about the project.

Through these projects, Argentina expects to generate billions of dollars in LNG and natural gas exports.

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