January 2010 Vol. 237 No. 1

Projects

Allseas/Royal Boskalis Building Argentine Pipeline

Work is under way to build a natural gas pipeline to connect two areas near the Straits of Magellan in southern Argentina, according to the country’s gas regulator, Enargas.

The project will link Cabo Espiritu Santo in Tierra del Fuego Province and Cabo Virgenes in Santa Cruz Province with a 23-mile, 24-inch pipeline that willl be able to transport as much as 24 MMcm/d. The route is alongside a pipeline completed in 1978. Enargas said eight international oil and gas companies are providing most of the funding for the $245 million project. The companies include Apache Corp., BP PLC-controlled Pan American Energy, Petrobras, Occidental, Tecpetrol, the local unit of Repsol YPF SA, Total SA and Wintershall AG.

The pipeline will help transport gas around Argentina and eliminate the need to import expensive LNG from Trinidad and Tobago. The pipeline will initially transport 7.6 MMcm until it becomes fully operational. Once completed, the project will allow Argentina to increase its on and offshore natural gas production in Tierra del Fuego at a time when gas shortages have forced the government to ration gas during periods of peak demand.