MIDSTREAM
Transportadora de Gas del Sur (TGS), Argentina’s main southern gas pipeline operator, has awarded engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts for most of the main facilities of its NGL Project. The project is the infrastructure TGS will use to process, transport, fractionate and store the natural gas liquids (NGLs) associated with gas from Vaca Muerta, one of the world’s largest shale plays, in Argentina’s Neuquén Basin. Nicolás López, regional manager of TGS’s NGL Project, detailed progress on the works in Module II, “Natural Gas Liquids (NGL),” of the 4ª Jornada sobre Gas Natural y Gas Natural Licuado 2026, a natural gas and LNG conference held in Buenos Aires.
López reviewed the works under way, the purchases already awarded and the next steps for the initiative, which the company announced in March with a $3 billion investment, and shared a projection for 2030: the project would contribute some 2.2 million tonnes per year of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), for both the domestic market and export.
The development comprises the expansion of the Tratayén processing plant in Neuquén province; the reinforcement of the gathering system to separate rich and lean gas; a liquids pipeline between Neuquén and Bahía Blanca, Buenos Aires province, Argentina’s main industrial port and the hub of its petrochemical and NGL export complex; and three works in Bahía Blanca itself: a new fractionation plant, the facilities to tie into existing infrastructure and the expansion of the export terminal of the Consorcio del Puerto de Bahía Blanca, the port authority.
Tratayén Processing Modules Are Being Built in Canada as Site Preparation Advances
At Tratayén, TGS has already contracted the processing modules, compressor plants, power generation systems, dispatch equipment, vessels and export pumps, which are at different stages of manufacturing. The processing modules are being built in Canada.
The expansion calls for converting the two existing conditioning units into a single processing unit, adding new gathering facilities and plant inlet equipment, and building two new plants with a capacity equivalent to twice that of units 2, 3 and 4, along with product dispatch facilities.
It is a brownfield project: besides adding facilities, TGS must modify and adapt systems that are already operating, which adds complexity to execution. With site preparation and the demarcation of areas already under way, the company has made it a priority to separate the construction, operation and maintenance zones, to protect personnel and avoid interference between tasks.
Pipeline to Bahía Blanca Will Start at 8,000 Tonnes per Day, With Room to Grow
The second core component is a 20-inch liquids pipeline that will carry the liquids from Tratayén to Bahía Blanca. TGS has already awarded the purchase of line pipe, valves, and pig launchers and receivers. The route will follow an existing energy corridor between Neuquén and Bahía Blanca, the same one used by the Neuba I and Neuba II gas pipelines.
The pipeline is designed to keep pace with production growth. At 20 inches, its capacity could reach around 23,000 tonnes per day (t/d), with operating alternatives close to 19,000 t/d, although those volumes would require adding the corresponding stations. In the first stage, the system will handle about 8,000 t/d, and the design will allow transport capacity to be expanded as available production increases.
The figure matches the one Oscar Sardi, CEO of TGS, had anticipated at the Shale24+Santander Energy Summit, where he put expected output at between 7,700 and 8,000 t/d of propane, butane and natural gasoline, with 45 months of construction.
In Bahía Blanca, Piling for the Storage Plant Has Reached 50%
The new fractionation plant will be built on land TGS acquired near its General Cerri Complex and the Galván area. The EPC contracts, the modules and the engines have already been awarded, and contracting for other equipment is advancing. The initial design includes two fractionation trains, with the flare, piping and other operating facilities sized to add a third. The plant will include utilities, workshops, control rooms and staff facilities, with a layout that allows maintenance without shutting down the entire installation.
Because the site is close to urban areas, TGS will install a ground flare, a ground-level flare that allows gases to be evacuated in emergencies with a lower social and environmental impact than a conventional flare.
The fractionation and storage plants will be connected by three lines of 16, 12 and 10 inches, along a corridor similar to the one that currently links the Cerri Complex with the Galván plant, sized to evacuate all planned output at the maximum projected capacity. At the time of the presentation, TGS was in the final stage of the tender to award that work.
The storage plant is one of the most complex fronts. It will have one refrigerated tank for propane and another for butane, with space for a third, plus a 60,000-cubic-meter natural gasoline tank. The refrigerated tanks will be single-wall, a configuration that makes it possible to dispense with secondary containment and make better use of the site. Refrigeration equipment, pumps, vessels, loading arms and electrical installations will be added. The grid connection, tied to two Bahía Blanca transformer substations, is one of the project’s challenges.
The civil EPC contract has already been awarded and is under way. The tanks, the storage train and the pumps have also been contracted, while the loading arms were in the final stages of award and the company expected to close the EPC contract for the storage plant’s main facilities in about a month. Earthmoving and grading have begun on the site, and piling was close to 50% complete at the time of the presentation.
To coordinate the five fronts simultaneously, TGS set up a dedicated team of specialists from different areas who work together on planning and executing the works. In addition to LPG, the initiative will increase natural gasoline output, mainly for export.
TGS has already taken the final investment decision (FID) on the project and expects start-up in late 2029 or early 2030. In Bahía Blanca, the next step is the award of the tie-in lines, which the company expected to define in the weeks following the presentation.