Overview
- Southern Energy selected India’s Welspun to supply pipes for a roughly 480–500 km line from Vaca Muerta to Río Negro, with an offer near US$200–203 million reported to be about 40% below Techint’s bid.
- Minister Federico Sturzenegger defended the adjudication on price and rule-of-law grounds, rejecting calls to privilege a local supplier or grant a post-bid right to match.
- Techint says the widely cited 40% gap is inaccurate and is weighing an anti-dumping or competition complaint, alleging Welspun underpriced using Chinese-origin inputs and omitted typical import costs.
- Consortium members say Welspun met technical standards and offered better payment flexibility, describing a unanimous board decision that prioritized project economics.
- President Javier Milei publicly attacked Techint’s Paolo Rocca while backing the award, as the separate tender to build the pipeline and related works continues.