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This Monday (01/23), Lula (PT) stated that his government will “create the conditions” for financing, through the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES), the Néstor Kirchner gas pipeline in Argentina. The country promises cheap gas.
The Argentines are seeking funding from the BNDES for the second section of the project – which will expand the flow of unconventional reserves from Vaca Muerta, located in Neuquén, near Santa Fe.
This pipeline will allow the neighboring country to replace gas imports from Bolivia and, with all this, create space for exporting resources from Vaca Muerta to southern Brazil.
Lula, in his speech, reaffirmed the intention to restore BNDES’s role as the financier of engineering projects in neighboring countries.
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“This is what larger countries must do with those of lesser means at certain historical moments. Occasionally, in Brazil, we are criticized for pure ignorance, by people who believe that there cannot be financing for other countries. I think it is not only possible but necessary for Brazil to help all its partners. This is what we will do, within the economic possibilities of our country,” Lula added.
Sergio Massa, the Minister of Economy of Argentina, said that in the first week of February, a team from the Banco de la Nación and the ministry will travel to Brazil. On the agenda is energy integration between the countries, especially the second section of the Néstor Kirchner gas pipeline.
The minister stated that both countries are facing a “huge opportunity.” “Brazil will have access to cheaper gas than it buys from Bolivia; and Argentina will open a market with volumes that until now it could only dispatch to the Uruguayan Energy Central or to Chile – during non-peak periods,” said Sergio Massa in a press conference with Finance Minister Fernando Haddad.
Sergio also mentioned that the first section of the Néstor Kirchner gas pipeline is scheduled to inaugurate on June 20, and that between March and April, the second section of the pipeline will be tendered.
“In parallel, there are two works in the project: TGN (Transportadora de Gás del Norte) and a connection work from the Salliqueló-San Jerónimo pipeline to the northern gas pipeline. What is the objective of these works? Basically to start preparing the ground to supply Brazil with gas,” the minister stated.
Brazil-Argentina Integration
The project of the Southern Brazilian Gas Transporter (TSB) was divided into three sections, but only the ends were executed in the early 2000s: the section connecting the Triunfo Petrochemical Pole (RS) to Porto Alegre, where the Bolivia-Brazil Gas Pipeline (Gasbol) ends; and the section between Uruguaiana and the network of the Gas Transporter of Mercosur (TGM) in Argentina.
The final section of this project was supposed to connect Argentine gas to the integrated Brazilian pipeline network, but it never became economically viable.
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