Argentina has inaugurated the first stage of a natural gas pipeline that will carry natural gas from the Vaca Muerta formation in western Argentina to Santa Fe province by way of Buenos Aires province, Reuters reported.

Vaca Muerta, a massive shale formation the size of Belgium located in Patagonia and it has the second unconventional gas reserves worldwide and the fourth in oil which can boost South American country’s gas supplies.

This first stage of the gas pipeline will add 11 million cubic meters of gas per day (mmcm/d). This amount will double when the compression plants are installed in Tratayen, in Neuquen province, and in Salliquelo, in Buenos Aires province, according to Reuters.

“This work (…) is the beginning of change in the economic and energy matrix of Argentina,” the Economy Minister Sergio Massa, said at the inauguration ceremony. “We are no longer going to import gas in ships because we are going to use the gas from our subsoil.”

The president of state energy company Energia Argentina, Agustin Gerez, said that the second stage of the pipeline which will reach San Jeronimo in Santa Fe province would be made in September with expected completion between March and April 2024. 

This will increase transportation capacity by 44 mmcm/d which is an important improvement allowing the imports of diesel and liquefied natural gas (LNG). The new pipeline would help the country to reach net zero in its energy balance in 2024 and achieve a surplus in 2025, according to official estimates.