Midstream, storage and GyP channel services
The core of the midstream —pipeline transport— is a vertically integrated regulated oligopoly: you do not attack it. ⛔ And this page had a thesis that fell: it sold a short bridge-trucking window at ~USD 15 a barrel while the pipeline was saturated. That window is closed, and it was not closed by the new pipeline we were watching but by the old one: the trunk concessionaire took its capacity from 36,000 to 86,000 cubic metres a day and has a bridge project under way to exceed 110,000. On top of that the truck could never compete —the official tariff for the same stretch is USD 1.53 a barrel—. What remains are the edges: pipeline maintenance, third-party storage and the provincial company's channel, and none of them publishes a price.
On this page
Who really pays?
The pipeline charges a regulated tariff, but the pipeline is not the customer for satellite services. ⛔ And one door has closed: the truck's. The ones that remain, with their real buyer:
⛔ this is no longer an evacuation window. Trunk capacity went from 36,000 to 86,000 cubic metres a day and the pipeline costs USD 1.53 a barrel against the truck's USD 15. What remains is what the source itself said and the page did not publish: the truck «also responds to the lack of infrastructure in remote areas». It is structural logistics, not a peak — and nobody publishes its volume.
Producers without storage of their own that need a buffer or nomination balancing. The incumbent at the export terminal holds 780,000 cubic metres; the intermediate buffer at the head of the basin is less covered. ⚠️ But the price of that service is an international benchmark, with no published local value: no figure can be put on it.
The pipeline owner and the project company contract the service; the expansion works are awarded to an EPC (a large contractor won Duplicar Norte, ~USD 400M). The EPC is sold construction services, not the concession. Integrity/inspection and fiscal metering are their own niche (see the pipeline integrity niche): here it's O&M + engineering, without double-counting.
The provincial company enters with a carried interest. ⚠️ of the fifteen areas tendered, only eight received a bid —twenty bids from ten bidders—, seven drew no interest and none has been awarded: the financial envelopes were opened on 16 September 2026, with more than USD 180 million in bonuses and more than USD 230 million of committed exploration, and the pre-award is still pending. The minimum access bonus of USD 500,000 is in the tender documents, as is the obligation to fund 100% of the State's share.
Which projects move this demand
437 km, 30-inch export pipeline between Allen and Punta Colorada, with a marine terminal of six tanks and two monobuoys six kilometers offshore, in the San Matias Gulf…
see the project →Why this project exists: the expansion of the Perito Moreno Gas Pipeline (ex-GPNK) by +14 MMm3/d of capacity…
see the project →A ~472 km pipeline linking Tratayén (Neuquén) with San Antonio Oeste, on the San Matías Gulf (Río Negro), with capacity to carry ~27 MMm3/d of Vaca Muerta gas…
see the project →When the window opens
Two numbers have to be watched separately, not subtracted: how much capacity the pipe has and how much is produced. And there is a third clock that is not physical: in the provincial company's channel, of the fifteen blocks tendered eight received bids and their financial envelopes, opened on 16 September 2026, commit more than USD 230 million of exploration; none has been awarded yet.
See the evidence
This is not a future risk: it happened. Trunk capacity went from 36,000 to 86,000 cubic metres a day with the Duplicar project and there is a USD 25 million bridge project to exceed 110,000.
See the evidence
The trunk line belongs to the operators: the more integration, the less service to third parties. thesis
Of the fifteen areas tendered in Round 1/2026, only eight received a bid and seven drew no interest.
See the evidence
The opportunity in depth
The opportunity in depth
Maintenance, operation and engineering of the new pipelines, contracted when each project moves from construction to operation. And those dates exist: the trunk line's northern stretch enters service in the first quarter of 2027; the Punta Colorada line receives its moorings in late October 2026 and projects its first vessel from December. You compete by contract, not by concession. (Integrity inspection and metering are their own market: they are on the pipeline integrity page.)
Third-party storage at the head of the basin, monetizing throughput, handling and blending, not the tank rental. ⚠️ The price of that service is not published in the country.
Technical and financial partner in the provincial company's channel. ⚠️ With the size stated properly: fifteen areas were tendered, only eight received a bid, seven drew no interest and none has been awarded. And it is not cheap: an access bonus of at least USD 500,000 and funding 100% of the State's share, recoverable interest-free and only if there is production.
Logistics for areas with no gathering, which is what remains of the truck: the source itself says those vehicles also respond to «the lack of infrastructure in remote areas». It is not a window market, it is structural logistics — and nobody publishes its volume.
When you get paid, and what blocks it
already in
split
Monopoly on the Allen-Puerto Rosales trunk line, with a regulated tariff and the operators as owners. ⭐ And it is the actor that closed the truck window: its capacity went from 36,000 m³ a day in 2024 to 86,000 with the Duplicar project completed verif the concessionaire's own site, and it has a USD 25 million bridge project under way to take it to 110,000-112,000 prob.
See the evidence
The 437 km Allen-Punta Colorada pipeline, with two single-point moorings. ⚠️ It is not in service: the pipe was laid in August 2026, but the two moorings only arrive at Punta Colorada in late October and the seven-kilometre subsea line is still under construction. The company itself projects exports from December 2026, with a first phase of 190,000 barrels a day. prob
Perito Moreno USD 700-800M (21→35 MMm3/d) + NGL USD 3,000M (573 km, 2.7 Mt/year, export USD 1,200M/year) prob figures declared by TGS in its project announcements.
780,000 m3 after expansion (~USD 500-600M); inaugurated first 3 tanks + jetty (2025).
See the remaining player
State partner with a carried interest. ⚠️ Round 1/2026 tendered fifteen areas but only eight received a bid —twenty bids from ten bidders— and the other seven drew no interest. None has been awarded: the financial envelopes were opened on 16 September 2026 and added up to more than USD 180 million in bonuses to the provincial Treasury and more than USD 230 million in committed exploration investment verif Government of Neuquén; the pre-award report and the provincial company's board resolution are still pending. The minimum access bonus of USD 500,000 does hold, and it is in the tender documents. prob
The jobs it createsTransport and terminal/tank operation jobs; the GyP channel opens the door to SMEs as partners of the provincial State. thesis
Pipeline transport: a vertically integrated regulated oligopoly, with capacity committed in advance and growing besides. Not addressable, and less so than before. estim
The edges: maintenance and engineering for the new pipelines, third-party storage at the head of the basin, the provincial company's channel and logistics for areas with no gathering. ⛔ None of the four publishes a local price, so no figure is put on them. unconf
⛔ No entry range is published: the four remaining edges are contracted one by one and none has a published local price. The truck window, which was the only one with a verified unit and price, has closed. unconf
Why we do not put a number on it The only stretch with a verified unit and price was bridge trucking, and this pass withdrew it: its volume is from 2024 and its price is 9.8 times the tariff of a pipeline that now does have capacity. The four remaining edges —pipeline maintenance, third-party storage, the provincial company's channel and logistics for areas with no gathering— are contracted one by one and none publishes a local price.
calculate it
The number comes from multiplying the year’s activity by the unit price, and it is cross-checked against independent methods that give the same result.
The full calculation, step by step
Concentration High at the core and higher than when this page was written: pipeline transport is a vertically integrated regulated oligopoly with capacity committed in advance, and its capacity has just grown 140% —from 36,000 to 86,000 m³ a day on the trunk line—, with more work under way. That leaves no room for an alternative evacuation service. At the edges —third-party storage, pipeline maintenance, the provincial company's channel— concentration is low, but none of the three publishes a local price.
The rule that moves it
What moves this market is not a reform but the pipeline boom: the Punta Colorada line and the gas pipeline expansion are large-investment-regime projects, and by multiplying the outlets they generate demand for operation, maintenance and engineering. ⛔ And one correction: the provincial register of hydrocarbon companies is not the service supplier's entry door — the decree binds whoever bids for permits or concessions, and the provincial channel's tender documents require it of the awarded operator. For everyone else what applies is Neuquén supplier certification, which is free.
See the underlying reading
The underlying policy that opens up this demand. It is the same inference declared by the rules and the program pillars pushing in this direction.
stability → long-term investmentSee the full legal grounds
Where the number comes from
USD 1.53 a barrel by pipeline, against ~USD 15 by truck: the truck costs 9.8 times more for the same stretch
See the calculation, the variables and how it was validated
What follows is not a market calculation: it is the arithmetic showing why this page withdrew its headline figure. The formula we published held; its two factors no longer do.
⛔ None of the remaining stretches has a figure. Pipeline maintenance and engineering, third-party storage and the provincial company's channel are contracted one by one and publish no local price. The exploratory ceiling this page once cited rested on international benchmarks, so it is not published either: it is not a market size.
The number rests on a few variables. The formula shows how it moves when each one changes; and each variable carries its freshness seal — how often it is worth revisiting. estim
The figure this market seemed to have —~USD 172 M a year of bridge trucking— does not hold, and the arithmetic is in plain sight. The multiplication closes; its two factors do not. The volume, 31,450 barrels a day, is a snapshot from June 2024, when the trunk line moved 36,000 cubic metres a day, and no 2026 source publishes a volume of crude by truck to replace it. And the USD 15 a barrel price is not a margin but a penalty: the official tariff for the same stretch is USD 9.6011 per cubic metre, which divided by the 6.2898 barrels in a cubic metre gives USD 1.53 a barrel, almost ten times less. The capacity licensed today we read on the concessionaire's own site. ⛔ Between inventing a number and saying there is none, here there is no number.
Coverage: the Ley 3338 public register of Certified Neuquén Suppliers, counted in full on 14 September 2026: 1,029 companies, with 161 in logistics and transport and 116 in operation and maintenance · Sep 14, 2026 · not reviewed: the trade in the register is declared by the company itself and nobody audits it —the only registrant under «midstream» is a winery—, certifying is voluntary and the operators do not publish who they award to: the gap is stated among the certified firms, never «in the province»
How to cite this figure: Despegue (2026). Midstream, storage and GyP channel services · Neuquén. despegueargentina.com/en/neuquen/midstream-evacuacion-crudo · terms of use
Neighbouring marketsOne market in the same group, from USD 280 to USD 520 M a year
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