Brochure - Transportadora de Gas del Norte_English

TRADITION AND INNOVATION

IN THE ARGENTINIAN NATURAL

GAS INDUSTRY

INVESTING

GAS

IN SUPPLY IN

ARGENTINA Daniel Ridelener, CEO at Transportadora de Gas del Norte, outlines the recent investments made to renovate the company’s infrastructure

M

ore than half of the

pressure pipelines in the centre and north of the

primary energy

country. Tracking back its history, it is a

produced in Argentina

continuation of Gas del Estado, a state-owned

comes from natural gas, a fact that

company privatised in 10 business units at the

positions the country as the largest

end of last year.

consumer in Latin America.

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Today, TGN is responsible for the

The biggest company dedicated

transportation of 40% of the gas that flows

to its transportation in Argentina is

through the Argentine trunk gas pipelines.

called Transportadora de Gas del

Exclusively operating the two existing gas

Norte, founded in 1992 as a

pipeline systems in the North and Central regions,

company dedicated to the

the company represents 18% of the national

transportation of natural gas by high

energy matrix.

It operates and maintains more than 9,100 km of gas pipelines (more than 6,800 km of its own

RENOVATION AND CHANGES IN INFRASTRUCTURE

and 2,300 km of third parties) and 20 compressor plants with 375,620 HP. Through

Ridelener, trained as an industrial

this, it connects eight of the nine distributors,

engineer, began his work at

industries and thermal power plants located in 15

Transportadora del Gas del Norte in

Argentine provinces with the NeuquĂŠn,

1992, when the company was

Northwest and Bolivian basins.

founded. In January 2008, he

Daniel Ridelener, CEO, has overseen the

started in general management and

recent infrastructure renovations carried out with

in his 25 years at TGN, he has

a high-level investment.

experienced very significant

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changes in activity at the company.

“WE OPERATE A SYSTEM OF 9,1 00 KILOMETRES AND 20 COMPRESSOR PLANTS, WHICH CLEARLY REQUIRES VERY STRONG INVESTMENTS IN TERMS OF MAINTENANCE, OPTIMISATION AND MODERNISATION” — Daniel Ridelener, CEO

He distinguishes three very marked periods since the company began its operations. From 1992 to the end of 2001, a period of great investment and growth in the transportation system; from 2002 to 2015, a second period where this growth stopped (linked to the 2001 macroeconomic crisis in Argentina and the subsequent application of policies that undermined the operation and development of this

TGN

Operates and maintains more than 9,100 km of gas pipelines (more than 6,800 km of its own and 2,300 km of third-party pipelines) and 20 compressor plants with 375,620 HP Has the exclusive right to operate the two existing gas pipeline systems in the North and Central-West regions of Argentina

“We operate a system of 9,100 kilometres and 20 compressor plants, which clearly requires very strong investments in terms of maintenance, optimisation and modernisation.

“The plan of committed investments has to do mainly with works related to the integrity of the transportation system and the modernisation of compressor plants and control systems. Outside of the plan committed to the Government, we are in the process of studying different alternatives to expand our transportation system.”

industry) and finally, from 2016 onwards, a stage

THE VACA MUERTA GAS AND OIL FIELD

of recovery, investment and development based

Vaca Muerta, located in the

on the strategies of the new government.

Neuquén basin (150 kilometres from

Immersed in this new stage, the company is

the city of Neuquén), is one of the

working on a significant investment plan for all its

largest unconventional oil and gas

infrastructure to adapt to the changes to come.

deposits in the world, with proven

Ridelener explains this change: “The current

reserves are estimated at 22,500

government faced a comprehensive tariff review

million BEP (Equivalent Petroleum

process which took effect at the end of March

Barrel).

2017. We signed an agreement with the

In the short term, an approximate

government where we made the commitment to

investment of $2,5 bn per year is

carry out an investment plan that, in general

expected by oil companies to extract

terms, is in the order of $100mn per year.”

gas, in a 35-year investment plan. w w w. t g n . c o m . a r

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“WE SEE THAT VACA MUERTA GIVES ARGENTINA SOME VERY IMPORTANT POTENTIAL” — Daniel Ridelener, CEO 08

Ridelener explains these new

an example, we can mention the Fortín de

opportunities: “The potential of

Piedra deposit of Tecpetrol, which

unconventional deposits was already

expects to reach a production of around

known, although the technology to exploit

15mn cubic meters per day by the end of

them began to be available economically

the year. Considering that it started from

and effectively about 10-12 years ago. In

zero a year ago, it is a very significant effort.

the country, shale oil and shale gas

Something similar, to a lesser extent,

deposits have been exploited for about

occurs with other Vaca Muerta players.”

five years, which allowed us to go through

Ridelener offers deeper vision into the

a learning curve that will result in greater

basin: “We see that Vaca Muerta gives

productivity of equipment and labour and,

Argentina some very important potential. If

therefore, in minor production cost.”

we compare it with the path travelled by

“Currently, shale gas production in Vaca Muerta has been growing very strong. As

the shale gas in the USA, in a few years we would find ourselves with a very

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“WE SIGNED AN AGREEMENT WITH THE GOVERNMENT WHERE WE MADE THE COMMITMENT TO CARRY OUT AN INVESTMENT PLAN THAT, IN GENERAL TERMS, IS IN THE ORDER OF US $ 100MN MILLION PER YEAR” — Daniel Ridelener, CEO

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competitive gas resource at international

agreement signed with the Government

level, especially considering gas as an

implied, after more than a decade of

input for industry and electricity

freezing, a recompositing of the tariff

generation. In addition, the export

based on the guidelines established by

business is reborn almost immediately by

current legislation. The integral tariff

gas pipeline to neighbouring countries,

review consisted precisely of bringing the

and in the medium term through gas

tariff to its fair and reasonable value and

liquefaction.”

then maintaining the real value of it through

“In all that process we see ourselves with a very active role both in gathering activity in the basin, and expanding the transport capacity of the gas pipelines.”

semi-annual adjustments based on the evolution of local inflation rates.”

“There is a discussion going on at the political and media level regarding what the adjustment will be like in October. The

THE TARIFF SITUATION OF NATURAL GAS IN ARGENTINA

wants to moderate this increase, so that it

The recent fluctuations in natural gas tariffs

has the least possible impact on

are a hot topic in Argentina, where

consumers. In particular, I would be

Transportadora de Gas del Norte plays an

working on generating scenarios of

important role.

greater competition in the purchase of gas

Ridelener adds: “The integral

Government, within the agreed rules,

by the distributors,” concludes the CEO.

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Don Bosco 3672 - 4° P C1206ABF, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires - Argentina T +54 - 11 4008-2000 www.tgn.com.ar