The Vaca Muerta Sur Oil Pipeline, locally known as Vaca Muerta Oleoducto Sur or simply VMOS, has hit a new milestone near Chelforó in the province of Río Negro, Argentina. There, the first automatic welding operation was successfully carried out on the 437-km-long pipeline.

To mark the start of this key phase, YPF President and CEO Horacio Marín and Vice President of Infrastructure Gustavo Gallino visited the site, accompanied by representatives from the consortium.

“This is just the first of many challenges,” declared Ricardo Unzner, Deputy Project Manager. “We hit the mark with the first weld, and we’re determined to keep meeting deadlines, always with the safety of our team front and center.”

Before reaching Chelforó, the team visited the camp in the town of Chichinales, where they toured the double joint plant and other supporting facilities.

“The double joint plant plays a key role in speeding up welding and pipe assembly,” said Alejandro Cardone, Project Manager. “But to keep that efficiency going, we also need a camp ready to host over 550 people. In a project of this scale, technology and logistics have to work hand in hand.”

About the project

The VMOS is Argentina’s largest private energy infrastructure project for oil exports in the last 50 years. It features the construction of a 437 km, 30-inch (76.2 mm) diameter pipeline which cuts across the province of Río Negro in Argentina and is split into two main sections: around 110 km from Allen to Chelforó, and another stretch of 327 km from Chelforó to Punta Colorada.

The project includes over 76 special crossings, traversing multiple roads and streams. One of the standout engineering feats will be a horizontal directional drilling (HDD) crossing underneath the Río Negro near Chelforó, a stretch of some 700 meters drilled with a tunnel boring machine. More than 300 major pieces of heavy construction equipment were mobilized for this part of the operation.

Today, over 800 people are working on the VMOS high-performance teams, bringing experience from past joint venture projects like the Reversion of the Norte Gas Pipeline, the Perito Moreno Gas Pipeline (formerly known as the Nestor Kirchner Gas Pipeline, GPNK), and the DUPLICAR Module II Oil Pipeline project.