The president and CEO of YPF, Horacio Marín, and CEO of the Italian giant eniClaudio Descalzi, signed today a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to study the development of a phase of the Argentine LNG project, which covers all stages: the production of gas in Vaca Muerta, transport, liquefaction and subsequent export.
Argentina LNG It is an integrated project of the UPSTREAM and the large -scale Midstream, designed to develop the resources of the unconventional gas deposit of the Neuquina basin and attend international markets by exporting in several phases of up to 30 million tons per year (MTPA) of GNL by the end of the decade.
As part of these phases, the agreement carried out by the same YPF with the Angloholandese Shell And on the other hand the Southern Energy consortium headed by Pan American Energy with the Norway, in both cases with the initial forecast of four liquefactor ships – between amnbos projects – against the coast of Río Negro, in the Gulf San Matías.
In particular, the phase of the project contemplated in the MOU with ENI refers to the Development of UPSTREAM, transport and gas liquefaction facilities through two floating units of 6 mtpa each, by a total of 12 MTPA.
If specified in these terms, the inisiative with the Italian energy company will be the largest GNL production, even above the 10 MTPA planned with Shell and the 6 MTPA of the first announcement of Pan American Energy.
“We are greatly pleased to sign this agreement with ENI, which will allow us to accelerate the schedule of the Argentine project LNG. We see a great interest world President and CEO of YPF, Horacio Marín.
“The choice of ENI by YPF as a strategic partner reflects the specific and distinctive experience that we have developed in LNG projects in Congo and Mozambique, and the recognition of our global leadership in the execution of projects that use this technology“said Claudio Descalzi, CEO of Eni.
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In this way, YPF leads the concretion of the Argentine LNG project, which seeks Generate exports for 30 billion dollars by 2030.
In the current world context, LNG is positioned as a vital source of reliable energy supply. It is estimated that the LNG demand It represents more than a third of the worldwide natural gas trade and is expected to be doubled by 2050.
In the case of ENI, the Italian firm said that today’s memorandum of understanding is in line with the strategy of promoting energy transition, favoring the development of gas production and reducing the impact of emissions, with the aim of achieving the Carbon neutrality for 2050in addition to contributing to the security and competitiveness needs of energy supplies.
ENI was founded on February 10, 1953 as an Nazionale Idrocarburi entity, and the new public body was in charge of rebuild the energy policy of the post -war country. In 1995 the company went on to quote in the stock market at the beginning of a path that would make it a global energy company, with a strong technological imprint to face the energy transition.
Today the company has developments in hydrocarbons, renewable energies, chemistry and petrochemical, load for electric mobility, and services for industrial decarbonization. For this he has 33,142 employeesand more than 9,000 million euros in capital spending a year with presence in countries in Europe, America, Asia, Oceania and Africa.
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The oil company under state control also advances with an export project with Shell, one of the GLOBAL GNL Setafter the withdrawal in December of the Malaysian Petronas that participated during the last three years of the design of the strategy through the so -called Argentine LNG consortium.
The project that is open to the participation of other actors is in the design engineering stage, which would allow the consortium to advance with the FID in May 2026. The sale is then opened for the development of two floating liquefaction units, the first of which should be Operational on the coast of Río Negro in 2029and the second in 2030.
These agreements will allow progress with the availability of two ships of 5 MTPA each, equivalent to 40 mmm3/natural gas day and export values between US $ 8,000 and US $ 10,000 million a year.
The success of this planning may determine that or not in the original idea of having an on shore plant of liquefied gas production, which would multiply the total capacity and level of investment by the partners, and the companies that join.
