Hi! How are things?

It’s only been a few months since our last letter, but much has changed in the world since February. First and foremost, Russia's invasion of Ukraine has created a humanitarian and economic crisis, triggering rises in commodity prices, mostly fuels.

Gas is center-stage right now, with European countries seeking to reduce their reliance on Russian gas imports even as they are affected by changes in this country’s distribution policy. The situation in general has sparked a wide-scale geopolitical reorganization with implications for the global energy market, and although its consequences in the long-term are hard to predict, they’re already making themselves felt in price increases and greater demand for LNG.

There is consensus that gas is a hydrocarbon of pivotal importance for the future. While oil consumption is expected to peak within the next five years, the demand for gas has plenty of room for growth in the next decade. In other words, today we’re still talking about oil & gas, but as oil consumption falls around the world, gas will continue to play an essential role in energy supply, particularly in the transition towards renewables.

At this point, there are great opportunities for projects able to take advantage of the potential offered by the Americas. From Patagonia to North America, we are working with our customers to endow the region with an increasingly clean and powerful energy matrix, driving sustainable development.

Connecting Vaca Muerta with the world

The potential of the Vaca Muerta shale oil and gas reserves in Argentina is enormous, but it will only be fulfilled once the necessary gas transportation infrastructure has been developed to serve the rest of the country—and even the world.

After building Tecpetrol’s facilities in Fortín de Piedra in a record-breaking 18 months, today processing 15% of the gas consumed daily in Argentina, we are ready to contribute our experience and capabilities to build a gas pipeline and transform the country’s energy grid.

The LNG revolution

Given the current context, America is examining the feasibility of developing large-scale projects to export LNG to countries contemplating a greater use of other sources of natural gas, such as Germany and Italy, for instance.

Based on our experience of building the Dunkirk LNG Terminal, the largest regasification plant in France and the second largest in Europe, we are studying how best to participate in several gas liquefaction projects.

Thermal power plant in Argentina and Brazil

Closing the combined cycle at a power station involves installing heat recovery steam generation boilers and turbines. The process enables the operation to increase its power output while reducing its carbon footprint vis-à-vis the electricity generated. We are currently working on the closure of the combined cycle of the Ensenada Barragan Thermal Power Plant in Argentina, and are over 90% of the way there.

In Brazil, we’re carrying out a similar operation at the Paranaiba V power plant to close the cycle. In addition, we completed a combined cycle power plant that’s now in operation, Jaguatirica II, in a context whose complexity gives an idea of the vital importance these works have. Due to its geographic location, the State of Roraima was mostly dependent on energy imports from Venezuela, but the crises in that country meant that in 2018 alone, it suffered over 85 blackouts. Today, the Jaguatirica II project is already supplying 70% of Roraima's energy needs, and replacing diesel with cleaner energy.

Dos Bocas: making history

In Mexico, we continue to forge ahead with the construction of the Dos Bocas refinery, marking a watershed in the history of the country's energy infrastructure. This project is unusually large, even by present-day standards, and involves some 30,000 people from a large number of different contractors, of which over 6,000 are part of our team.

Spotlight

Learn what Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is all about in this talk given by Hernán Milberg, the Energy Transition Manager at Techint E&C. 

These have been the most newsworthy developments of the last few months that we wanted to share with you. Hope you have found this email interesting!

Until our next mail!