During a ceremony at the presidential palace, President Kirchner said the project will allow “consolidation of Argentina’s energy plans” and would constitute “a very important integration step” for the region. He said he hoped the contract would be awarded by next February, and that construction would be completed by early 2007.
“The investment is significant about $ 1 bn and will include contributions from both the government and private investors,” the president said. In a letter of intent signed last month, the governments of Argentina and Bolivia made a commitment to step-up technical, legal, and economic analyses “in order to facilitate the construction and operation of the Argentine. natural gas pipeline.” At that time, Kirchner and his Bolivian counterpart, Carlos Mesa, signed an agreement for an extension of time and amount of the bilateral contract to export gas from Bolivia to Argentina, which has been in place since April. In the midst of an energy crisis that forced it to restrict natural gas exports to Chile and other neighbouring countries, Argentina has since June been importing gas from Bolivia at the rate of 4 mm cum/d.
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The proposed new pipeline will supply natural gas from Bolivia to the provinces of Formosa, Misiones, Chaco, and Corrientes. It is reported that Techint, the Argentinean group, has already shown interest in investing $700 million in the project, in which the government would invest a further $300 million. A number of other companies are believed to be willing to contribute a total of $300 million to build the provincial sections of the system.
