Terminal Name: Bahía Blanca Gas Port > Project Overview

June 16, 2010: YPF SA, the Argentine subsidiary of Repsol YPF, and state-owned utility, ENARSA, are exploring the feasibility of installing an LNG floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) about 50 kilometers north of Buenos Aires, officials said on June 2. YPF and ENARSA are budgeting around $150 million for the installation. Argentina receives LNG through its Bahia Blanca regasification vessel, located more than a hundred kilometers south of Buenos Aires. But, that gas can take up to a day to arrive to Buenos Aires. Thus, the two companies are studying the feasibility of a second terminal. The expected capacity is 8 million cubic meters per day, similar to in Bahia Blanca. Thus far, YPF has imported 23 cargos through Bahia Blanca. The cost has ranged from about $6/MMBtu to $8/MMBtu.

Bahía Blanca-Comandante Espora Airport (serviced by Aerolineas Argentinas and Lineas Aereas Del Estado)

April 13, 2010: On March 31, Excelerate Energy announced that it will deliver four LNG cargos into Argentina’s first LNG import facility located in Bahia Blanca, approximately 400 miles south of Buenos Aires. Excelerate will deliver the cargos from its own fleet of purpose-built Energy Bridge regas vessels. Argentina’s state-owned utility company, ENARSA, issued two tenders in March, 2010, seeking a total of 14 cargos for delivery in 2010. The first tender was for 12 cargoes and the second one for two cargoes. Excelerate’s four cargo agreement is being supplied from their own trading portfolio. The company will start deliveries in April and finish in July.

September 18, 2009: Argentina’s first onshore LNG receiving terminal may begin the tendering process by yearend. The terminal, proposed by Argentine national energy company Enarsa and Venezuelan national oil company PDVSA, will be a 3 million mt/y facility in Bahia Blanca. Bahia Blanca is already the site for Argentina’s lone offshore LNG receiving facility. Venezuela was to export 2.5 million mt/y of LNG to the terminal in an original proposal, but Venezuelan LNG export plans have stalled, according to Chris Meyer of LNG Unlimited. An alternative to Venezuelan import is an Argentine link to the developing Uruguayan terminal at Punta de Sayago, which will be completed in two years. Argentina has seen its gas reserves decline steadily since 2003, while consumption has grown, leading the country to look to expand its import sources.

June 19, 2009: The Repsol LNG tanker Sestao Knutsenis is expected to arrive at the Bahia Blanca LNG terminal in Argentina on June 27 after leaving Trinidad on June 13. The tanker has a capacity of 138,000 cubic meters, and its delivery of LNG to Argentina comes after the Castillo de Villalba arrived at Bahia Blanca on June 13. Reuters said Repsol expects to send and average of one LNG cargo a month to the Bahia Blanca terminal for the rest of the year.

March 30, 2009: Bahia Blanca will receive an LNG cargo from the Excelerate Excelsior in May, its first of the year, according to Reuters.  “There will be a cargo down in Argentina this summer, at the beginning of May,” the source said.  The last cargo at Bahía Blanca was in August.  The LNG will be sourced by Stream, which is a joint venture between Repsol and Gas Natural.  It is expected that the Excelsior will remain at the terminal for the duration of the southern hemisphere’s winter.

July 21, 2008: On July 21, Repsol announced that a successful ship-to-ship transfer and regasification of 131,433 cubic meters of LNG occurred at Bahía Blanca between the Excelsior and the Excelerate ships. Excelsior then docked and hooked up to the gas network, where it injected gas at a rate of 8 million cubic meters per day.

June 9, 2008: The Bahía Blanca Gas Port received Argentina's first LNG shipment on June 9, 2008. Excelerate Energy's LNG vessel, the Excelsior, successfuly docked at the port 400 miles south of Buenos Aires, and vaporized natural gas was pumped directly into Argentina's natural gas network.

Argentine Gas Port Set to Go May 25
ABSTRACT: Crooks, Nathan. “Enarsa: Temporary LNG tanker to arrive May 25.”
Source: Business News Americas
Website: http://www.bnamericas.com/story.jsp?idioma=I&sector=9&noticia=434223  

May 13, 2008: A floating storage regasification vessel (FSRV) will arrive in Argentina's Bahía Blanca Bay on May 25 to begin supplying the country with 8.0 million cubic meters (283 million cubic feet) per day of natural gas through a gas port. We presume the vessel is one from Excelerate Energy’s fleet.

The terminal has been developed quickly as Argentine temperatures fall. The gas from the specially equipped vessel will enter Argentina's pipeline network through a high-pressure connection similar to the UK’s Teeside terminal built and operated by Excelerate Energy. The dock where the connection will be made is owned by Argentine firm Mega, the BN America’s report said.

The ship has been contracted through September. Prices for the Trinidadian LNG to supply the port will range from $13/MMBtu to $16/MMBtu, according to the report.  Argentina's federal government will bear the substantial cost to subsidize the gas to residential consumers at $1/MMBtu and industrial markets for $2.50/MMBtu.