Argentina’s energy sector signs US$7-billion LNG export contract with Germany’s SEFE
Southern Energy signs eight-year supply deal with Germany’s SEFE; Agreement signals growing confidence in the country’s ability to enter the global LNG market.
Argentina’s recently formed Southern Energy consortium has agreed an eight-year liquefied natural gas export contract with Germany’s state-owned Securing Energy for Europe (SEFE), in what both parties describe as the country’s first long-term LNG supply agreement.
Export revenues over the life of the deal are estimated at roughly US$7 billion based on current price assumptions.
Southern Energy brings together Pan American Energy, YPF, Pampa Energía, Harbour Energy and Golar LNG. The grouping was established to coordinate liquefaction and exports from Vaca Muerta, the Patagonia shale formation.
Under the terms of the agreement, the consortium will supply two million tonnes of LNG per year to SEFE.
Deliveries are scheduled to begin in late 2027, when the Hilli Episeyo floating liquefaction vessel is expected to start operations in the San Matías Gulf in Río Negro Province. The ship, operated by Golar LNG, will provide the processing capacity required for the contract.
Southern Energy CEO Rodolfo Freyre and SEFE CEO Frédéric Barnaud signed the agreement, according to local media reports.
For Germany, the contract forms part of a wider effort to secure diversified long-term gas supplies following the sharp reduction in Russian pipeline flows since 2022.
SEFE, formerly Gazprom Germania and now fully owned by the German state, has been tasked with expanding non-Russian energy procurement.
Freyre said the deal marks a “milestone” for Argentina’s gas sector. “The agreement with SEFE will be the first large-scale LNG sale from Argentina and opens a path for the future development of Vaca Muerta’s natural gas reserves,” he said in a press release.
– TIMES/NA