ALLEN, Río Negro – April 4, 2025
In a major boost for Argentina’s oil industry, energy executives inaugurated a critical expansion of the Oldelval pipeline system, significantly increasing the country’s oil export capacity. The project, completed by pipeline operator Oldelval, raised the transportation capacity from the Neuquén Basin to Bahía Blanca from 400,000 to 540,000 barrels per day.
Despite the strategic importance of the infrastructure, which required a $1.4 billion investment—the largest privately funded energy project in Argentina in the past two decades—national and provincial political leaders were notably absent. Only Energy Secretary María Tettamani attended, while President Javier Milei and Economy Minister Luis Caputo were abroad in the U.S.
Key Highlights:
• Export Expansion: The upgraded capacity will help resolve a major bottleneck in Vaca Muerta, enabling Argentina to increase oil exports from 190,000 to an estimated 272,000 barrels per day in 2025.
• Economic Impact: At an average oil price of $69 per barrel, this could generate $6.875 billion in export revenues. Without the recent 12% drop in global prices, exports could have reached $7.936 billion.
• Production Growth: Vaca Muerta’s production has doubled in four years—from 280,000 barrels per day in 2021 to a projected 580,000 in 2025. Of this, 450,000 barrels will be transported via Oldelval by year-end, increasing to 540,000 by 2026.
Infrastructure Developments:
• The “Duplicar” Project: Oldelval built a 525 km parallel pipeline, doubling the original capacity of 225,000 barrels. It spans Río Negro, La Pampa, and Buenos Aires provinces. Over 2,400 direct and 6,000 indirect workers were involved in construction.
• Export Terminals: The pipeline feeds into Puerto Rosales (operated by Oiltanking) and Puerto Galván (Trafigura), the latter newly upgraded with a $30 million investment.
• Additional Projects:
• Duplicar X: A $400 million project to expand capacity to 670,000 barrels/day by 2027.
• Duplicar Norte: A $300 million line to connect northern Neuquén oil fields.
• Vaca Muerta Oil Sur (VMOS): To begin operation in late 2026, initially transporting 180,000 barrels/day and scaling to 500,000 in 2027, with a potential future capacity of 700,000.
Long-Term Vision:
By 2030, Argentina aims to produce 1.5 million barrels per day from Vaca Muerta, with one million destined for export. At an average price of $60 per barrel, this could bring in over $21.6 billion annually in foreign currency.
Oldelval is jointly owned by major industry players, including YPF (37%), Pluspetrol (33%), Chevron (14%), Pan American Energy (12%), Tecpetrol (2%), and Pampa Energía (2%). The completion of the “Duplicar” project, ahead of schedule and with high safety standards, marks a pivotal moment in Argentina’s bid to become a major global oil exporter.