Naturgy Expands Buenos Aires Grid

The president of Naturgy Francisco Reynes talked about investment in Argentina's gas sector with the president Mauricio Macri and the energy minister Gustavo Lopetegui at a meeting in Buenos Aires April 4.

Reynes stressed his company's commitment, with an investment plan that would extend the penetration of gas, backed by stable and coherent regulation that allowed for price hikes.

Naturgy was initially a victim of the devaluation of the Argentine peso, which pushed up the cost of gas procurement in the country, but the government under legal pressure agreed last year to pay distributors the difference between the purchase price and the sale price.

Reynes said that Naturgy was ready to expand the gas grid to 30 areas of the northern and western areas of Greater Buenos Aires, where it is already active. In fiscal year 2018, Naturgy increased its networks by 218 km, bringing more than 26,000 new homes on to the grid.

Reynes also said Naturgy was prepared, as one of the main gas distributors in Chile, to buy more Argentine gas for the Chilean market, based on its participation in the Pacific and GasAndes gas pipelines.

Reynes also said the government had done a lot in recent years to "normalise" the country's energy market and achieve greater stability.