Argentina to explore possibility of building LNG export terminal with Petronas

Argentina will explore the possibility of building a terminal for the export of liquefied natural gas on the Atlantic coast. The country's state oil and gas company YPF signed a memorandum with the Malaysian Petronas to this end, Report informs, citing Interfax.

Companies may also involve third parties in the implementation of this plan, since its cost is quite high - about $10 billion, says YPF's top executive Pablo Gonzalez. The project also provides for the construction of a 600 km pipeline from the Vaca Muerta shale deposit.

Petronas already has experience in Argentina: the Malaysian company has been producing oil at Vaca Muerta for four years. However, the LNG terminal project is a more difficult initiative. If the cooperation between the two companies goes according to plan, they will be able to start exporting LNG only after six years. In May, YPF reported that it was conducting a conceptual analysis of the project, but there was still a long time before the start of construction of the terminal.

As expected, at the initial stages, Argentina will be able to export up to 5 million tons of LNG per year through the projected terminal. In the future, the capacity of the facility may be increased to 25 million tons per year.