(Reuters, 3.Apr.2018) — Argentine natural gas company Transportadora de Gas del Sur (TGS) will invest an initial $250 million on gas transportation infrastructure in 2018 and 2019 in the Vaca Muerta shale fields, the company said on Tuesday.
TGS said in a filing it would build a 92-kilometer (57-mile) gathering pipeline with 1.3 billion cubic feet per day capacity and later a conditioning plant to adapt the quality of natural gas before it enters the transport pipelines.
Overall investment will eventually reach an estimated $800 million with additional expansions planned, the company said.
Insufficient transportation infrastructure has held back oil and gas production and investment in Vaca Muerta, the world’s second-largest shale fields.
The TGS plant will have an initial capacity of 177 million cubic feet per day with expandable modules of up to 2.0 billion cubic feet per day.
Reuters reported last October that TGS, controlled by Pampa Energia, was planning the $800 million investment in natural gas infrastructure, citing a company source.
The pipeline will cross the Bajada de Añelo, Bajo del Choique, La Invernada, Pampa de las Yeguas I y II, Parva Negra Este y Oeste, La Escalonada, Rincón La Ceniza, Los Toldos Norte, Sur, Este y Oeste, La Calera, El Orejano abd Sierra Chata areas.
(Reporting by Juliana Castilla; Writing by Caroline Stauffer)
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