Overview
- Gustavo Sáenz, who posted a recorded message Monday, urged equal treatment for northern provinces and warned that winter could bring gas curbs for households and businesses.
- Resolution No. 66/2026, published March 13 and applied from May 1, reworked gas transport contracts and cut firm capacity to the north to 3.22 from 4.99 million m3 per day, a drop of about 35%.
- Since the change took effect in May, firm deliveries from the southern Vaca Muerta fields to distributor Naturgy fell, which alarmed factory and farm sectors in Salta, Jujuy, Tucumán and Santiago del Estero.
- Industrial groups say switching to imported liquefied natural gas pushed prices to more than $27 per million BTU from about $3, a jump they call unworkable for many plants.
- Officials and industry cite declining Northwest output, delays in reversing the Gasoducto Norte, and the end of Bolivian supply as the root causes, and the coverage reports no substantive national response so far.