7️⃣ VACA MUERTA AS SOUTH AMERICA'S GAS HUB — US$10B IN INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDED
A new report from the International Gas Union, Arpel, and Olade makes the case: Vaca Muerta's recoverable gas equals 45-124 years of combined consumption for Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, and Bolivia. The infrastructure to connect them largely exists — 16 cross-border pipelines built over decades, many underutilized. What was missing until now: exportable surpluses.
📊 The investment roadmap:
*TGN expansion Norte pipeline reversal: US$2.3B → 5.5M m³/day to Chile, Bolivia, Brazil
*Centro-Oeste GasAndes expansion: US$1.4B → 16M m³/day to Chile year-round
*Neuquén-La Carlota corridor to Brazil: US$4.5B
*TGS processing plants: US$3B
🛢️ BCG's Luis Barallat sees 1.5 million bpd by decade's end — up from 597,000 today.
Three factors: RIGI's 30-year fiscal certainty ("one of Latin America's best energy investment frameworks"), world-class geology, and social license for unconventionals that Argentina has and Bolivia, Colombia, Mexico, and Brazil don't.
On LNG: Southern Energy (6 mtpa) plus YPF's Argentina LNG (12-18 mtpa) could mean US$10-30 billion in annual export revenue. "That's enormous for any country."
Barallat's caveat: "Nothing is irreversible. You have to protect the legal and fiscal framework every single day."