YPF, Petronas and the Management Consortium signed the agreement to reserve a large lot where the project will be built. Feasibility studies will be carried out in six months. The total investment, the largest in the history of the region, would exceed US$ 50 million. 

The president of the Consorcio de Gestión del Puerto de Bahía Blanca, Federico Susbielles, held a meeting with the president of YPF Pablo González, the CEO Pablo Luliano, and Adnan Zainal Abidin, COO & EVP of Petronas on the occasion of the signing of the agreement for the reservation and availability of land at the Port of Bahía Blanca. The site was used until a decade ago by Vale, which started construction but withdrew from the business in Argentina.

The reservation will be maintained for an initial period of six months, during which YPF and Petronas will carry out technical, economic, maritime, soil and environmental studies to determine how to make the project viable, making it internationally competitive. At the end of this period, the companies will present a “Private Initiative” to obtain the “Declaration of Port Interest” and the granting of a long-term concession contract.

This reservation represents a new step in the path of this project that could change the energetic and economic course of Argentina. At present, progress continues to be made in the legal framework of the bill necessary to define the investment.

YPF and Petronas, the Malaysian national oil and gas company, signed on September 1, 2022 a Joint Study and Development Agreement to lead an integrated LNG project in Argentina that encompasses the development of Vaca Muerta’s unconventional gas resources and the construction of natural gas liquefaction plants to produce up to 25 million tons per year, to be exported to the global market. The project includes the design and construction of a dedicated gas pipeline, which will double Argentina’s current total capacity, plus the required port and ancillary facilities. The total investment is estimated at approximately US$50 million.

The LNG Project is strategic for the country: it will make it possible to take advantage of Vaca Muerta’s resources and generate a huge positive impact on the Argentine economy, creating thousands of jobs, incorporating state-of-the-art technologies and connecting Argentina with the world’s main development centers.

Federico Susbielles, president of the Port of Bahía Blanca, welcomed the news and said: “The land reservation is an important milestone in the path we have been following. We will continue making the necessary efforts for this great project to become a reality, knowing the enormous transforming impact it can have on the development of our port, our city and our country”.

MORE NEWS