Argentina to Start Gas Exports to Chile

Argentina will start exporting natural gas to Chile from October, Argentine energy ministry said in a statement July 20.  

The decision was announced post a bilateral meeting between the energy ministers of both countries, Susana Jimenez and Javier Iguacel. "The energy integration with Argentina will mean enormous benefits for both countries," said Chile's Jimenez.

"Today we reaffirm the Argentine commitment of energy exchange with our sister country of Chile and with the region. We are moving forward with our goal of becoming oil and gas exporter again. In October we will go back to exporting gas to Chile after 11 years,” said Javier Iguacel, energy minister of Argentina.

The gas will primarily come from shale assets in Vaca Muerta. The two partied also discussed unconventional gas production in Argentina’s Austral Basin and the eventual exports of natural gas to Chile’s Magallanes region.

Jimenez stated that natural gas would be a good solution to address the air pollution in the cities of Chilean centre-south, where firewood is the dominant source of energy.

"Vaca Muerta is going to give us gas in abundance so that both the inhabitants of Argentina and Chile enjoy a much cheaper gas, achieving a much cleaner, greener economy, with less pollution," Iguacel said.

The Vaca Muerta shale in the Neuquén province in western Argentina is considered among the most prospective unconventional shale oil and gas plays outside North America. Activity in the basin has picked up recently, mainly due to governmental incentives and rising domestic energy demand.