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Vaca Muerta’s Growth Now Hinges on Pipelines and LNG

Executives say expansion depends on new pipes, extra gas treatment plus floating LNG units to turn output into exports.

Overview

  • - Industry leaders said the constraint has shifted from drilling to evacuation, processing and market access, with investment choices now set by infrastructure and demand.
  • - Pan American Energy plans to raise gas for two floating LNG ships from 10 to 24 million cubic meters per day, a scale that calls for new treatment plants and a dedicated ~500 km line to Argentina’s Atlantic coast.
  • - Compañía Mega outlined a $360 million plan to clear transport bottlenecks and fully use its Bahía Blanca complex, keeping ethane for local use while exporting most propane, butane and natural gasoline.
  • - YPF detailed the Vaca Muerta Sur oil pipeline at 180,000 barrels per day at start with room to reach 550,000, and said a separate liquefaction program would require about $20 billion and long-term policy stability.
  • - Operators are pushing efficiency with data and automation as Vista cut cost per well to $12.2 million and Phoenix targets tripled oil output using AI and new fracturing methods, while integrated security, IoT and video analytics seek to cut downtime in a basin that now supplies over half of Argentina’s gas from non‑conventional wells.