Argentina will buy less gas from Bolivia and will pay with a Pampa aircraft if it needs more in winter – 14/02/2019

Argentina renegotiation of a gas supply agreement with Bolivia until 2026, which establishes a different contractual price and quantity system, with increased seasonality of deliveries for the period 2019-2020.

In accordance with this contractual amendment, Argentina will receive low amount of gas in the months of reduced consumption and you can avoid paying penalties. In this way, according to the Energy portfolio, the country will save 460 million US dollars in two years.

"In recent years, Argentina has been fortunate to discover and develop important natural gas resources and reserves, particularly with the creation of Vaca Muerta, which has allowed local production to increase significantly. We currently have surpluses of exportable gas in the summer, but we still need to import in the winter, "said the Secretary of Energy of the Ministry of Finance, Gustavo Lopetegui.

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"This change of context has led to the need to renegotiate, in principle, for a period of two years, the gas purchase and sale contract between YPFB and IEASA, in order to find a satisfactory solution for both. parties, we adjusted the contract quantities to Argentina's needs during the summer and we established differential prices based on market signals, especially in winter, "he added.

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The agreement was signed today by the companies YPFB and IEASA, in the presence of Secretary Lopetegui and Minister of Hydrocarbons of Bolivia, Luis Alberto Sánchez, in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia.

In compensation, Secretary Lopetegui offered to Minister Sánchez a Pampa 3 airplane manufactured in FADEA "before a performance of the contract". Argentina will deliver the Pampa 3 aircraft to Bolivia if the supply of gas is exceeded by 45 million cubic meters per day during the five months when demand is highest (May to September). The contract between the two countries for gas supply this year will amount to about $ 1,200 million.

Among the details of the agreement, a new definition of the months corresponding to the winter has been established, with a distinction between the months of "peak" and "rest". "Peak" months will be June, July and August, according to forecasts greater demand in our country, and May and September will be considered in the category "rest".

In the new price and quantity scheme, it has been established that during the summer months (January to April and from October to December), YPBF would provide 11 million cubic meters of gas per day. In May and September, the volume will reach 16 million m3 per day and during the winter peaks between June and August, it will reach 18 million cubic meters per day.

Lopetegui and Sánchez have also signed a memorandum of understanding to expand the border of energy cooperation between the two countries.