San Matías Gas Pipeline (San Matías Pipeline S.A.) - evacuation of Vaca Muerta gas to the Atlantic
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. It is the transport piece feeding Southern Energy's floating LNG project (vessels Hilli Episeyo and MKII). Construction start projected for May 2026, commissioning around April 2028; ~1,500 construction jobs; projected exports ~USD 2,500 M/yr. It closes the Neuquén gas monetization chain: it is the evacuation infrastructure the observatory's thesis identifies as a critical bottleneck.
The projectwhat it is, the route, the owners, the works and the contractors
What it is and why it exists
A 480-kilometre, 36-inch pipeline carrying gas from Tratayén, in Neuquén, to San Antonio Oeste, on the Río Negro coast, to feed the two liquefaction vessels in the San Matías Gulf. It is built and operated by San Matías Pipeline, a company that exists solely for this: it does not produce gas or sell it, it transports it.
The vessels arrive before their pipeline does. Until this pipeline enters service, liquefaction is supplied with surplus gas travelling along the General San Martín pipeline — gas from the Austral and Golfo San Jorge basins — through a fifteen-kilometre link already completed. That route works to get started, but it is borrowed and it is seasonal: spare capacity only exists in months of low domestic demand. The dedicated pipeline is what turns a seasonal operation into a year-round one, and what connects the export chain to Vaca Muerta rather than to the south. That is why the same shareholders behind the LNG project set up a separate company, with its own RIGI application, to finance it.
Where it runs and how much it can move
Tratayén (Añelo, Neuquén) → San Antonio Oeste (Río Negro). 472.5 km in total: 29 km in Neuquén and 443.5 km in Río Negro verif · Feb 2026 ↗
29 km, running broadly west to east, entirely within the Añelo department, crossing areas allocated to hydrocarbon production verif · Feb 2026 ↗
68 kg/cm²g (minimum guaranteed from the feeding systems) verif · Feb 2026 ↗
40-45 kg/cm²g verif · Feb 2026 ↗
27 million m3 per day verif · Jun 26, 2026 ↗
60.000 HP, plus the repowering of the existing plant in San Antonio Oeste verif · Jun 26, 2026 ↗
A site of roughly 190 × 400 metres, with four feeder systems that must meet transport and quality specifications suitable for LNG production. Includes a scraper launching trap and a Line Break valve (LBV) verif · Feb 2026 ↗
Allen, province of Río Negro verif · Feb 2026 ↗
Scraper launching and receiving traps, sectioning valves and metering stations between the two ends. Along the rest of the Neuquén section the environmental impact assessment foresees no other surface facilities verif · Feb 2026 ↗
Who owns it
It is not a company incorporated from scratch: it is Pan American E&P S.A. renamed and with a narrowed corporate purpose. Resolución 873/2026 states that on 17 October 2025 «la firma Pan American E&P SA (CUIT N° 30-71703621-9)» applied to join the RIGI, and that afterwards «la solicitante modificó su estatuto social a los fines de su adecuación a los requisitos» of the regime: «efectuó el cambio de su denominación societaria de Pan American E&P SA por la de San Matías Pipeline SA (artículo 1° del nuevo Estatuto), y también adecuó su Objeto Social (artículo 4° del Estatuto), a fin de limitar su actividad exclusivamente al proyecto por el cual solicita su adhesión como Vehículo de Proyecto Único», under article 169 of Ley 27.742. The shareholding was updated by Minute No. 27 of 30 March 2026 verif · Jun 26, 2026 ↗
The Acta sets as a project condition that San Matías Pipeline S.A. establish legal and tax domicile in the Province of Río Negro, without prejudice to keeping its actual seat of operations in the City of Buenos Aires. The same condition applies to Southern Energy S.A. verif · May 4, 2026 ↗
As regards San Matías Pipeline S.A., the Agreement was made conditional on its investment project obtaining RIGI accession, and was limited to the terms on which the national Ministerio de Economía approved the application verif · May 4, 2026 ↗
Rodolfo Heriberto Freyre signed the Acta as Chairman of Southern Energy S.A. (CUIT 30-71898858-2) and of San Matías Pipeline S.A. (CUIT 30-71703621-9) verif · May 4, 2026 ↗
What other projects it links to
What this project enables or needs outside the province, and through what mechanism.
NeuquénShared route and reuse of construction camps with YPF's Vaca Muerta Sur oil pipeline (VMOC-VMOS) verif · Feb 2026 ↗+
Río NegroThe pipeline is the supply infrastructure for Southern Energy's FLNG Project: without it the two plants do not operate year-round verif · May 4, 2026 ↗+
The works, milestone by milestone
The Acta set, as regards San Matías Pipeline S.A., obtaining RIGI accession for its investment project as a condition precedent (art. 1.5). That accession came with Resolución 873/2026 of the Ministerio de Economía, published on 26 Jun 2026 ⇒ the condition was met 53 days after enactment
4 May 2026. Enacted as Ley N° 5.849 by Decreto 465/26 and published in Boletín Oficial N° 6487, pp. 3-11, with the Acta Acuerdo and its Annex 1 in full
30 Apr 2026. Approved in general and in particular by a majority: 41 votes in favour, 3 against (García, Odarda and Spósito) and 2 absent (Frei and Lacour). Chaired by Pedro O. Pesatti
23 Apr 2026, Decreto 439/26 (DECTO-2026-439-E-GDERNE-RNE), File 070609-SEYA-2026 of the Secretaría de Estado de Energía y Ambiente. It declares the FLNG Project of public interest and sends the Acta to the legislature
14 Apr 2026, City of Buenos Aires. Signed by: the Province of Río Negro through Governor Alberto E. Weretilneck; Southern Energy S.A. (CUIT 30-71898858-2) and San Matías Pipeline S.A. (CUIT 30-71703621-9), both represented by their Chairman Rodolfo Heriberto Freyre
Neuquén's Secretaría de Ambiente y Recursos Naturales confirms on its website that the public hearing on the Environmental Impact Study was held in the events hall of the «Leonardo Da Vinci» hotel, on Provincial Route 17 in Añelo, on the study filed by San Matías Pipeline S.A., and that there «se expusieron los aspectos técnicos y legales del proyecto, y se respondieron las consultas formuladas por los asistentes»
Who already has a contract
Awarded in late April 2026 for approximately USD 530 million, with SICIM leading the joint venture at 51% and Víctor Contreras at 49%. It won with a bid around 15% cheaper than the Techint–SACDE joint venture, some USD 80 million apart, over 471 km of 36-inch pipe, with works starting in mid-2026 and a 24-month schedule
Contract awarded on Dec 23, 2025 for USD 203 million, against Tenaris bids of USD 296, 282 and 250 million. The pipe began arriving in August 2026
Construction management of the pipeline, awarded in the same package as the civil works
Award of the compressor plant within the same package as the pipeline works
How to supply itwhere to register, what they ask for and what they will buy
How to become a supplier
San Matías Pipeline S.A. (CUIT 30-71703621-9) or its main contractors. The Neuquén provincial preference is granted by the Province of Neuquén in its public tenders (Ley 2683), and by the parties covered by Ley 3.338 across the hydrocarbon value chain.
Centro PyME-ADENEU, a body under Neuquén's Ministerio de Economía, Producción e Industria and the enforcement authority for Ley 2683 and Ley 3.338. Published contact: Cr. Gabriel Carnelli (gcarnelli@adeneu.com.ar).
The registration routes that exist today, with their status. The one that is up and running is not always the official one.
Single window for the Neuquén Product/Supplier Certificate (Ley 2683)
up and running today«Para obtener o renovar el certificado de la Ley 2683 se debe acceder a la ventanilla única aquí» — the same platform serves for issuance and for renewal. Once processed, the system notifies by email and the certificate is downloadable from the platform
Go to the single windowabrirRío Negro Register of Suppliers of Goods, Services and Works (Ley 5805)
up and running todayCreated by art. 14 of Ley 5805 under the Secretaría de Estado de Energía y Ambiente. Registration is FREE and valid for twelve (12) months, renewable automatically after verification that the requirements are met (art. 16)
Go to the single windowabrirMódulo Compre RN — Purchasing and Contracting Register
up and running todayArt. 6.b of Annex I of Decreto 618/26 approves and implements the Purchasing and Contracting Register within the Módulo Compre RN of the provincial digital system, and establishes that «el uso de esta plataforma es el medio obligatorio y fehaciente para acreditar el cumplimiento del deber de invitación a proveedores locales»
Go to the single windowabrirWhat they ask you for
A minimum of 2 years of verifiable trading history verif · Jul 16, 2025 ↗«Tener al menos dos (2) años de inicio de actividades comprobables»
For WORKS AND SERVICES (the pipeline's category): more than 50% of labour based in Neuquén and use of provincially produced materials and inputs verif · Jul 16, 2025 ↗«Obras y/o servicios: para cumplir la condición de producto, se beneficiarán aquellas firmas que mayoritariamente (+ del 50%), ocupen mano de obra radicada en la Provincia del Neuquén y que utilicen materiales e insumos de producción provincial»
As a NEUQUÉN SUPPLIER: legal domicile, main tax domicile (registration with the provincial tax office) and principal place of business inside the province verif · Jul 16, 2025 ↗The instructions require all three domiciles in the province: legal, per the articles of association, partnership agreement or ID card if a sole trader; main tax domicile, with registration with the Dirección Provincial de Rentas; and principal place of business
A valid Provincial Supplier Certificate verif · Jul 16, 2025 ↗It appears in the list of mandatory documentation of instructions REV 02
If the company is a CONSTRUCTION firm: a Capacity certificate issued by the province's public works office verif · Jul 16, 2025 ↗«Si la empresa es Constructora, el certificado de Capacidad otorgado por Obras de la Provincia»
A sworn statement of not falling under art. 33 of Ley 19.550 (companies controlled by or linked to non-Neuquén firms) verif · Jul 16, 2025 ↗A signed sworn statement, on a template provided by the agency
Labour and supply chain paperwork: staff list with tax IDs and addresses, the latest ARCA F-931 form and a list of main suppliers verif · Jul 16, 2025 ↗The instructions require the employee list for the last completed month with address and tax ID, social security records (ARCA F-931 detail) and the supplier list with tax ID and address
In joint ventures and business collaboration groupings: each member must comply separately verif · Jul 16, 2025 ↗«Para Uniones Transitorias de Empresas y demás agrupamientos de colaboración empresaria y sociedades de hecho: cada una de las empresas o personas integrantes deben cumplimentar la documentación expresada en los puntos anteriores»
Being a DIRECT supplier of goods, works or services to the project's two companies: that extends the provincial turnover tax exemption to the supplier verif · May 4, 2026 ↗The Acta exempts the project vehicles from turnover tax, and establishes that «este beneficio será extensible a los locadores o titulares de las FLNG y a los proveedores directos de bienes, obras o servicios de los VPU — SESA Y SMP —, estos últimos exclusivamente por su participación en la ejecución de las obras de infraestructura necesarias para la puesta en marcha de las instalaciones requeridas para el PROYECTO FLNG»
That same direct-supplier status extends the 30-year tax stability guarantee verif · May 4, 2026 ↗The Acta provides that «respecto de los proveedores directos de bienes, obras o servicios de SESA y SMP comprendidos en la cláusula 4.6 de la presente, se le extenderá la Estabilidad Fiscal prevista en la presente cláusula, estrictamente respecto del mismo período y actividades previstas en la mencionada cláusula», and clarifies that the extension reaches those parties solely insofar as they supply the project or make use of its assets
At municipal level the benefit is not guaranteed: the Province only undertakes to urge the municipalities verif · May 4, 2026 ↗The Acta recognises municipal autonomy and says the Province «realizará sus mejores esfuerzos» for the project to obtain the same terms from the municipalities where it operates, and that it «se compromete a instar a los municipios a adoptar medidas análogas» as regards tax stability
Registering in the Río Negro Suppliers Register: that is what activates the right to match the best bid with up to an 8% price premium verif · Sep 1, 2025 ↗Art. 7 of Ley 5805 requires the Obligated Party to grant the Río Negro Supplier «el derecho de igualar la mejor oferta y obtener la adjudicación del proceso de contratación» provided its bid meets the essential quality, safety and operability requirements of the tender documents and its price «no supere la mejor oferta en más de ocho por ciento (8%)»
Having no due and unpaid debts with the provincial State, not being in insolvency, bankruptcy or liquidation, and having no record of breaching earlier promotion contracts verif · Sep 1, 2025 ↗Art. 3 of Ley 5805 excludes as contractors or suppliers those with due and unpaid debts of any kind with the provincial State, those with a record of breaching promotion contracts previously signed with the Province while the breach persists, those under insolvency proceedings, bankruptcy or liquidation, and people convicted of or disqualified for intentional crimes, along with legal entities whose representatives are
Being established in the Province with local added value — but, unlike Neuquén, being the subsidiary of an outside group does NOT disqualify you verif · Sep 1, 2025 ↗Art. 4.2 of Ley 5805 expressly allows access to the benefit for «aquellas sociedades que, aun estando vinculadas o controladas por grupos económicos nacionales o extranjeros, acrediten estar radicadas en la Provincia y que sus operaciones en la Provincia generan valor agregado local en términos de empleo, inversión productiva y transferencia de tecnología»
Meeting the local labour regime: 80% Argentines, 80% with 2 years of residence in Río Negro and 20% women and gender-diverse people verif · Sep 1, 2025 ↗Art. 5 of Ley 5805 refers to ley J 2904 —replaced in full by Ley 5804—, whose art. 5 requires at least 80% of staff of Argentine nationality, 80% with legal and actual domicile in the Province and two years of continuous residence, and 20% women and gender-diverse people
Not assigning the contract to a third party that is not a Río Negro Supplier verif · Sep 1, 2025 ↗Art. 11 of Ley 5805 bars the awardee from transferring its contract to a third party that does not qualify as a Río Negro Supplier, and provides for automatic removal from the Register if it sells its assets or assigns shares or rights to someone who does not qualify; if that happens during performance, the contract remains in force under the original awardee's responsibility but stops counting towards the Obligated Party's 60% compliance
Locating the tax base in Río Negro: 100% if you are a local taxpayer, or a unified coefficient of no less than 0.8000 under the Multilateral Agreement verif · Jun 22, 2026 ↗Decreto 618/26 requires active registration with Río Negro's Agencia de Recaudación Tributaria and, for taxpayers under the Multilateral Agreement based in another jurisdiction, evidencing «un coeficiente unificado, o parámetro de atribución fiscal equivalente, que no sea inferior al ochenta por ciento (80%) o coeficiente de 0,8000 para la jurisdicción provincial». In addition, in either case, a sworn statement must be filed undertaking to pay tax locally on one hundred per cent (100%) of the income from contracts awarded under the preference regime
Evidencing a real operating structure in the province; if you are from another province or abroad, incorporating a commercial branch established in Río Negro verif · Jun 22, 2026 ↗The decree requires tax domicile in the Province plus legal domicile registered with the provincial Public Registry or, failing that, evidence that the central administration, the main production unit, the operating base or permanent facilities —workshop, laboratory, storage base— operate in Río Negro. «Las empresas extranjeras o extraprovinciales deberán acreditar la constitución de una sucursal comercial radicada en la Provincia»
In a joint venture: evidencing that at least 51% of the equity or of the decision-making bodies belongs to people domiciled in Río Negro verif · Jun 22, 2026 ↗This is item xv of STEP 2 of art. 15 of Annex I, and it is marked «Obligatorio para UTE»
If you are a construction firm and will contract works of more than 5,000 m²: IERIC certificate, staff details on site and current workers' compensation cover verif · Jun 22, 2026 ↗Item xi of STEP 2 of art. 15 of Annex I of Decreto 618/26
Tax clearance from Río Negro's Agencia de Recaudación Tributaria and clearance from the Secretaría de Trabajo verif · Jun 22, 2026 ↗Items xiii and xiv of STEP 2 of art. 15. STEP 2 asks for 15 documents in total, among them the sworn statement under Ley L 3550 on Ethics and Fitness for Public Office, a sworn statement of electronic domicile, criminal records, the ARCA tax ID certificate with the detail of activities, provincial turnover tax or Multilateral Agreement registration, ID of the owner or partners, the articles of association or partnership agreement and their amendments, the minutes appointing directors, the latest annual report and accounts with a certified accountant's signature, and a certificate of non-registration in the Register of Maintenance Debtors for each owner, manager or attorney
If you have been operating in the province for less than 1 year: you enter as a CONDITIONAL RÍO NEGRO SUPPLIER with a 24-month Relocation Plan verif · Jun 22, 2026 ↗Decreto 618/26 creates a special regime for newly established companies: by filing a sworn statement with a Relocation Plan they are «transitoriamente eximidas de los parámetros definitivos» and must meet four milestones within a unified maximum term of twenty-four (24) months: a minimum investment in capital goods or in adapting permanent facilities to the amounts set by the authority; title deed or lease of the main operating base in the Province; a local employment curve with a schedule of progressive hiring until the law's quota is reached; and the tax projection with a commitment to reach the 0.8000 coefficient. Once the term is up and after an audit, the conditional certification converts by operation of law into a definitive one; failure to meet the plan causes automatic lapse
Keeping the certification: reporting any substantial change within 10 business days verif · Jun 22, 2026 ↗The certificate lasts one year from issue, in any of its categories. Keeping it requires reporting to the authority any substantial change in the corporate, tax, operating or payroll structure within ten (10) business days of it happening. Unjustified alteration of the conditions that gave rise to the certification, withholding information or falsehood cause automatic lapse and the penalties of art. 25
The order you get in by
Check that the three provincial domiciles and the 2-year trading history are met, and hold a current Provincial Supplier Certificate (and, if a construction firm, the public works Capacity certificate)
Gather the paperwork: articles of association or ID, online registration with the province's tax office, staff list with tax IDs and addresses, the latest F-931 form and a list of main suppliers
Sign the two sworn statements on the agency's templates: the one under art. 33 of Ley 19.550 and the one on the product, work or service
Upload the application to the single window at https://app.adeneu.com.ar/ley2683 (the same route serves for renewal)
Wait for the decision: the system reports by email whether it is approved or rejected, and the certificate is downloadable from the platform
Submit the certificate in every provincial public tender covered by Ley 2683
If a tender document sets technical requirements that look like an artificial barrier, raise it with the enforcement authority: art. 9 empowers it to audit and to require changes to criteria that create unjustified barriers
On the Río Negro side, STEP 1: fill in the pre-registration form for the Suppliers Register, at https://energia.rionegro.gov.ar/RegistrodeProveedoresLey5805
STEP 2: file the 15 legal, tax and corporate documents required by art. 15 of Decreto 618/26 (including tax and Labour Secretariat clearance, certified accounts, REDAM and, in a joint venture, the 51% held by Río Negro-domiciled parties)
STEP 3: wait for the Enforcement Authority's assessment. Once approved, the certificate arrives by email and is valid for a year
STEP 4: log in to the digital system with the username and password sent by email to print the current certificate
Once certified: monitor Módulo Compre RN at https://acceso.inprosistema.com.ar/, where Obligated Parties are required to publish every contracting requirement published at least 5 business days in advance, or 48 running hours in cases of urgency
If a tender document sets requirements that restrict competition, raise it with the Enforcement Authority: it can require tender documents and procedures to be adjusted, stating its grounds and guaranteeing the right of reply
What it will buy, and when
Each phase buys different things at different times.
Construction of the pipeline and its associated surface facilities
en cursoTerm stated by the applicant in the Environmental Impact Study (pp. 17 and 171). It is carried out with a SINGLE work front advancing along the route. The trench cannot stay open for more than 10 days (NAG-153). The construction camps have no defined location yet: the project was at Basic Engineering and the sites are chosen by the contractor at Detailed Engineering.
What it will need and has no supplier for yet
Pipeline civil works and assembly (472 km): earthmoving, welding, coating, pipe logistics
highA 472 km gas pipeline under construction (2026-2028) demands works contractors, heavy pipe transport, camps and catering along a remote route.
Pipeline and station O&M services (compression, metering, integrity)
mediumOnce operating (2028) it requires integrity maintenance, inspection and operation of compressor stations.
Get on board the takeoff
This week’s updates: proyectos RIGI, proveedores y datos verificados de Río Negro and new provinces as they launch. Free.
What it leaves in Río Negrojobs, works, taxes, promises and the outlook
How many jobs it creates
1,500 direct jobs at peak construction, according to the company's own breakdown: 1,100 for laying the pipeline and 400 for the compressor plant unconf · Apr 30, 2026
40 direct jobs and another 100 indirect ones during operation, as stated in the legislative session that ratified the Acta Acuerdo prob · Apr 30, 2026 ↗
The works that stay behind
The infrastructure that stays standing once the works end, with its size and its source.
Tratayén — San Antonio Oeste dedicated pipeline
productivaSan Matías Pipeline S.A. as owner, but the physical asset stays installed across Neuquén and Río Negro: it is capacity to move gas out of the basin that outlives the floating units justifying its construction today, and that can supply other demand if the destination changes.
The RIGI accession act describes a pipeline of approximately four hundred and eighty kilometres (480 km) in length and thirty-six inches (36 inches) in diameter, with a transport capacity of twenty-seven million cubic metres a day (27,000,000 m3/d), running from the Tratayén head station, in the province of Neuquén, to the San Antonio Oeste compressor station, on the Golfo San Matías, province of Río Negro
New compressor plant
energiaHP of total power
Río Negro's gas transport system. Once installed, compression power is fixed infrastructure: it is not dismantled when construction ends and it determines how much gas can move along the route in the future.
Verbatim from the act: «a los fines de alcanzar dicho volumen se instalará una (1) planta compresora con una potencia total de sesenta mil HP (60.000 HP), y se repotenciará la planta compresora existente en San Antonio Oeste, garantizando así el suministro continuo a las terminales del Golfo San Matías, ambas instalaciones ubicadas en la provincia de Río Negro»
Upgrade of the existing San Antonio Oeste compressor plant
energiaThe existing transport system, which predates this project and continues after it: the upgrade improves a facility that is already in service.
The accession act states that, on top of the new plant, «se repotenciará la planta compresora existente en San Antonio Oeste». It publishes neither the added power nor the term
What it already pays in taxes and royalties
Item by item, with the rule that sets it. A rate is not the same as what is collected, nor what is received the same as what is projected.
5%Community Contribution (one-off) verif · May 4, 2026 ↗+
Variable Community Contribution (annual, payable by Southern Energy S.A. only) verif · May 4, 2026 ↗+
Operational Control and Oversight Fee for Hydrocarbon Transport verif · May 4, 2026 ↗+
USD 1,220,000Fee for special use of the coastal public domain, water royalties and fee for use and protection of water bodies verif · May 4, 2026 ↗+
Environmental inspection, control and oversight fee verif · May 4, 2026 ↗+
Who promised what
Who promised what, with a date and with how to check it. We record them whatever the political colour.
pendienteSan Matías Pipeline S.A. · Setting a minimum percentage of local labour hiring in the tender documents verif · Feb 2026 ↗+
pendienteSan Matías Pipeline S.A. · Reporting monthly the percentage of local labour hired, the percentage of women resident in the province hired and the percentage of purchases from local suppliers against the total verif · Feb 2026 ↗+
pendienteSan Matías Pipeline S.A. · Setting up CV drop-off points coordinated with the municipal Employment Office and publishing contact details for enquiries verif · Feb 2026 ↗+
pendienteProvince of Río Negro · Reporting to the companies, within 90 calendar days of each calendar year's end, that the Community Contribution funds were duly allocated to the agreed purpose verif · May 4, 2026 ↗+
pendienteMunicipality of San Antonio Oeste · Using the 5% of the Community Contribution exclusively on the municipality's projects, equipment or infrastructure works, with prior provincial approval verif · May 4, 2026 ↗+
What changes in Río Negro if the project works
The Investment Committee set 1 May 2028 as the start of operations. From that date there are 27 million cubic metres a day of firm capacity between Neuquén and the Atlantic that did not exist before.
What that means for the territory is not the pipeline: it is what stays buried and what stays standing. A new 60,000 HP compressor plant and the upgrade of the existing one at San Antonio Oeste are fixed infrastructure that outlives the vessels justifying them today, and that sets how much gas can move along that route for decades.
The two years of construction are the short window, and the largest. The peak is around 1,500 jobs, and the spending that reaches the town is not engineering: on the neighbouring project along the same corridor, the most contracted category was staff transport, followed by catering, accommodation and fuel. That is demand a small services firm can serve without risk capital, and it is contracted through the contractor, not the project owner.
And there is an asymmetry worth knowing before investing. The pipeline crosses two provinces with two different local-content regimes: on the Río Negro side the obligation reaches contractors and subcontractors regardless of size; on the Neuquén side it reaches services, engineering and construction firms only when they are large under the tax classification. The same works, two sets of rules.
Outlook to 2028, built on the verified data of this page and our analytical framework. We also publish what would invalidate it.
What could stall itrisks and how to track them
What could stall it
Each risk, with who or what could trigger it.
precioThe variable contribution behind the «more than USD 490 million over 20 years» figure can be zero, and it is lawful for it to beAn international LNG price below the agreed floor verif · May 4, 2026 ↗+
tecnicoThe variable contribution also does not accrue unless both plants run close to full capacityDelay or under-utilisation of either of the two FLNGs verif · May 4, 2026 ↗+
regulatorioDisputes with the Province are settled by international arbitration outside ArgentinaA dispute over the application, scope or interpretation of the Acta or of the RIGI incentives verif · May 4, 2026 ↗+
regulatorioThe benefits are vested rights: reversing them by a later law is not enoughA change of provincial government or repeal of the ratifying law verif · May 4, 2026 ↗+
regulatorioRegulatory stability can give way on safety grounds, but through a procedure the company can triggerNew provincial rules grounded in the project's safety verif · May 4, 2026 ↗+
The permits the works need, and where each one stands.
Public hearing called by notice in the Neuquén Official Gazette of 13 February 2026 (pp. 76-77), under arts. 24 and 31 of Ley 1875, art. 13 of Annex II of Decreto 2656/99 and arts. 90 and 93 of the Provincial Constitution. It was held on 8 April 2026, 11:00, at the «Leonardo Da Vinci» Hotel, RP 17, Añelo. NON-BINDING on the enforcement authority: the proceedings are recorded in minutes added to the file for its consideration verif · Feb 13, 2026 ↗
How to tell whether it is advancing
Observable facts that show whether the project is advancing, and where to look for each.
trimestralPayment of the first tranche of SMP's Community Contribution (USD 12 M)+
mensualAppointment of the monitoring committee for San Antonio Oeste's 5%+
trimestralAnnual LNG FOB INDEX (1/3 Brent + 1/3 Henry Hub + 1/3 JKM, with the coefficients of art. 5.2)+
trimestralMunicipalities along the route joining Ley 5849+
trimestralGrounds for exemption from the 60% reported by Obligated Parties+
semanalProject contracts published in Módulo Compre RN+
How we verified thisthe act, the gaps and the sources
The RIGI act, in detail
Jun 1, 2026 verif · Jun 26, 2026 ↗
25 June 2026 verif · Jun 25, 2026 ↗
26 June 2026, notice 44737/26 verif · Jun 26, 2026 ↗
The act’s articles, in detail
7 facts on the commitment
20 % of the investment amount that goes to LOCAL suppliers verif · Jun 26, 2026 ↗
The entire investment amount, across the construction and operation stages, on the supply of goods and works verif · Jun 26, 2026 ↗
1.300 USD million — total committed investment verif · Jun 26, 2026 ↗
San Matías Pipeline S.A. (SMP SA), tax ID 30-71703621-9, registered at Av. Leandro N. Alem 1180, floor 11, Buenos Aires City. verif · Jun 26, 2026 ↗
17 October 2025, filed by Pan American E&P S.A. before the change of corporate name verif · Oct 17, 2025 ↗
4 June 2026: the RIGI Project Evaluation Committee met and, per its Minutes No. 21, recommended approving the application and its investment plan verif · Jun 4, 2026 ↗
The Energy Secretariat of the Ministry of Economy, or whomever it delegates to, under article 219 of ley 27.742 (art. 8 of the resolution). The project vehicle is registered by the RIGI Coordination Unit in the Single Project Vehicle Registry created by decreto 749/2024 (art. 7) verif · Jun 26, 2026 ↗
How much it commits to invest, and how it pays for it
2 facts on the investment
Evidence an investment in computable assets equal to or above forty percent (40%) of the minimum investment amount (art. 3) verif · Jun 26, 2026 ↗
31 May 2027, under point (iii) of article 177 of ley 27.742 (art. 4) verif · Jun 26, 2026 ↗
What the regime gives in return
4 benefits of the regime
Art. 10 notifies ARCA of the application of the incentives in chapter IV of title VII of ley 27.742 verif · Jun 26, 2026 ↗
Art. 11 notifies the Central Bank of the application of the foreign exchange incentives in chapter V of title VII, «with the exception of the free availability of export proceeds provided for in article 198 of the aforementioned law, which was NOT REQUESTED by SMP SA» verif · Jun 26, 2026 ↗
Art. 5 approves the list of goods the project vehicle may import under the exemption in article 190 of ley 27.742, identified as IF-2026-47590145-APN-DTD#JGM verif · Jun 26, 2026 ↗
Art. 6 accepts SMP SA's election to settle disputes through the mechanisms in article 221 of ley 27.742 verif · Jun 26, 2026 ↗
What we could not confirm
There are 15 in this project. Each says why it could not be confirmed and what it would take to close it.
H-01The Environmental Impact Declaration of Neuquén and Río Negro, with an act number+
The gazette notice convenes the hearing and the Environmental Impact Study is the document filed: neither of the two is the Declaration. The only lead, Resolución 672/2026 of Neuquén's environmental agency, appears in social media mentions and could not be opened. Golar LNG states to the market that environmental approval was obtained in both provinces, but that is a corporate document, not an act of the State.
H-02The month-by-month staffing curve during construction+
The Environmental Impact Study —the document it was expected from— expressly says it does not exist at this stage: the headcount needed will depend directly on the work fronts opened. The project was at Basic Engineering when the study was made.
H-03The minimum percentage of local labour hiring the tender documents must set+
The Environmental Impact Study commits to the tender documents carrying it, but does not publish the number. Without that figure the RIGI's 20% cannot be reconciled with the 60% of Río Negro's Ley 5805.
H-04The amounts and the register of easements+
The amounts per hectare or per kilometre and the number of properties agreed remain unpublished. What was settled on 20 Aug is the MECHANISM, through art. Three of the Acta Acuerdo ratified by Ley 5849: the Province grants the easements required where the land falls under provincial jurisdiction and guarantees access to existing municipal, provincial and national roads; the cost of obtaining any easement is borne by the companies; and if no agreement is reached with a landholder or occupier, the companies report it to the competent bodies and to the Province for its intervention. The Environmental Impact Study only provided the national framework (Ley 21.449).
H-05The location of the construction camps+
The Environmental Impact Study states that it is not defined and that the contractor sets it at Detailed Engineering. Reusing those of YPF's VMOC-VMOS oil pipeline will be assessed.
H-06The text of Ley provincial 3.338 on Strengthening and Development of the Neuquén Value Chain+
The law is known only through what its enforcement agency (Centro PyME-ADENEU) publishes: that it requires covered parties to file a sworn statement and an annual supplier development plan with a minimum of three certified companies to develop. The text was not opened, and so it is not known who is covered as an obligated party nor at what threshold.
H-07The pipeline's capacity and length each have THREE different official figures+
Capacity: the Environmental Impact Study filed with Neuquén's environmental agency says 28 MMSMCD; the Acta Acuerdo ratified by Ley 5849 declares 26,500 thousand m³/d as the environmental fee's tax base; and article 1 of Resolución 873/2026 —the national act of State approving the RIGI accession— says «veintisiete millones de metros cúbicos diarios (27.000.000 m³/d)». Length: 472.5 km in the Environmental Impact Study (29 in Neuquén plus 443.5 in Río Negro), 444.35 km in the Acta for the Río Negro stretch, and «aproximadamente cuatrocientos ochenta kilómetros (480 km)» in Resolución 873/2026. They are three different acts with different purposes —technical, tax and regime classification— and they are neither averaged nor is the largest picked.
H-08The value of the Unit of Value used to assess the provincial environmental fee+
The Acta Acuerdo sets the environmental fee's formulas and coefficients (Ley M N 3.266, Resolución SEEA 170/25) but does not publish what a Unit of Value is worth. Without that value the formulas cannot be converted into pesos and it is not possible to estimate how much the project leaves under that heading.
H-09The pipeline's length differs between two primary acts: 444.35 km (Acta Acuerdo) against 443.5 km for the Río Negro stretch (Environmental Impact Study)+
The Acta's figure is the declared tax base of the provincial environmental fee and covers only the Río Negro stretch; the Study's comes from the technical design. The difference is 0.85 km and is not settled by averaging.
H-10Whether the municipalities along the route joined Ley 5849+
Art. 6 of the law only INVITES the municipalities in whose jurisdiction the works take place to join, and the Acta binds the Province only to «realizar sus mejores esfuerzos» and to «instar» the municipalities. It is a best-efforts obligation, not one of result: without an ordinance joining it, municipal fees and stability are not covered.
H-11Whether the monitoring committee that must approve San Antonio Oeste's projects has been appointed+
Ley 5849 orders it created by regulation and makes the approval a condition for transferring the funds. The implementing decree was not found.
H-12The peso amount of the Control and Oversight Fee the pipeline pays+
Both factors are in the Acta (6,220,900 m² of pipeline area and $215 per square metre), but the inspection cost is adjusted by INDEC's CPI every 31 January and the Acta does not say from what base or from what date the first adjustment runs. Multiplying them today would be our own calculation presented as a fact.
H-13Provincial Decreto 439/26 cites the national RIGI law as «Ley Nacional N° 27.242», twice+
The RIGI was created by Ley 27.742. The Acta Acuerdo itself, in its articles Four, Eleven and Twelve, cites it correctly as 27.742. The discrepancy is in the recitals of the provincial Executive's ratifying decree, not in the text of the law or the agreement.
H-14How many people the pipeline's construction employs, and when+
Two figures circulate that do NOT measure the same thing and are quoted together. The 1,900 people belong to Southern Energy's complete FLNG PROJECT —that is what its own website says, opened on 20 Aug 2026— and cover vessels, interconnection, two compressor stations, SESA's onshore pipeline and the logistics base: they are not the Dedicated Pipeline's. The pipeline's 1,500 (broken down by the company into 1,100 for laying plus 400 for the compressor plant) come from the hearing and the press, with no act or corporate document backing them. And the Environmental Impact Study, which is the primary source of the pipeline's applicant, expressly says the headcount «dependerá directamente de los frentes de obra habilitados».
H-15Neuquén's Environmental Impact Declaration does not appear published in the provincial Boletín Oficial, and the corporate claim says otherwise+
Sweep of Neuquén's Boletín Oficial: gazettes 4540 to 4604 were read, covering continuously from 30 Jan 2026 to 18 Aug 2026 (the latest published), searching the text for file 00239697 and the names «San Matías Pipeline» and «Tratayén». A SINGLE gazette matches: 4544 of 13 Feb 2026, which is the hearing notice already known. ⇒ The Environmental Impact Declaration is NOT published in the province's Boletín Oficial, and the project is not mentioned there again after the notice. THE METHOD IS CONTROLLED: the same sweep does find all four terms in gazette 4544, so a zero is not a false negative of the search. ⚠️ WHAT THIS ZERO DOES NOT PROVE: (a) that the Declaration does not exist — a resolution can be notified to the applicant without being published; (b) that there are no editions outside the numeric range — the numbering has measured anomalies, gazette 4546 is dated 16 Jun 2026 and sits between two from February; (c) anything about Río Negro, which is another jurisdiction with another procedure. ⚠️ The consequence is that Golar LNG's claim to the market —«Environmental approval obtained from the provinces of Neuquén and Río Negro»— has NO backing in Neuquén's Boletín Oficial. It may be true and unpublished; what cannot be done is cite it as an act of the State. The lead in circulation was also ruled out: Neuquén's Decreto 672/2026 exists but is a hospital security services contract, and the infoleg search engine does not index secretariat resolutions (TipoNorma=4 returns zero rows).
Frequently asked questions
What is it and what is it for?It is a dedicated pipeline linking Tratayén, in Añelo (Neuquén), with San Antonio Oeste, on the Golfo San Matías (Río Negro)verif+
It does not supply the domestic market: its sole purpose is to carry Vaca Muerta gas to Southern Energy's two liquefaction vessels for export as LNG. The pipe is 36 inches, with a maximum operating pressure of 98 kg/cm²g. The act adds a new compressor plant of 60,000 HP —that rating is for the new plant alone— plus the upgrade of the existing one at San Antonio Oeste; the environmental study places a compressor plant at Allen, and no open source allows confirming it is the same one. ↗
How long is it and how much gas does it carry?There are three official figures for each, and all three are correct because they come from acts with different purposesverif+
Length: 472.5 km in the Environmental Impact Study (29 in Neuquén plus 443.5 in Río Negro), 444.35 km in the Acta Acuerdo —which measures only the Río Negro stretch, as the environmental fee's tax base— and «approximately 480 km» in Resolución 873/2026. Capacity: 28 MMSMCD in the Study, 26.5 million m³/d in the Acta and 27 million m³/d in the RIGI act. ↗
Is it the same company as Southern Energy?No, and the confusion is common because they have the same five shareholders (Pan American Energy, YPF, Pampa Energía, Harbour Energy and Golar LNG) and the same signatoryverif+
The pipeline's owner is San Matías Pipeline S.A., CUIT 30-71703621-9; Southern Energy S.A. is its customer, not its owner. And San Matías Pipeline was not incorporated from scratch: it is Pan American E&P S.A. renamed, with a narrowed corporate purpose. ↗
Who is building it?The civil works on the three main stretches are carried out by the SICIM S.p.Aprob+
– Víctor M. Contreras y Cía S.A. joint venture (51% and 49%), awarded in late April 2026 for around USD 530 million: it won with a bid around 15% cheaper than the Techint–SACDE joint venture's, some USD 80 million apart. The welded 36-inch pipe is supplied by Welspun Corp; construction management, by IEB Construcciones, and the compressor plant, by Oilfield Production Services. ↗
What does the RIGI require in exchange for the benefits?Evidencing, in the first two years from notification, an investment in computable assets of at least 20%verif+
Total investment declared in the act is USD 1,300 million, and the commitment is calculated on the entire amount —construction and operation— on the supply of goods and works. ↗
How do you become a supplier?There are two doors, one per province, and they are not the sameverif+
In Río Negro the Río Negro local content regime applies (Leyes 5804 and 5805, regulated by Decreto 618/26). In Neuquén the lever is the Neuquén supplier certificate of Ley 2683, issued by Centro PyME-ADENEU through a single window and giving preference in provincial public tenders. You invoice San Matías Pipeline S.A. or its main contractors. ↗
How many jobs does it create?In operation, what was stated in the legislative session that ratified the Acta Acuerdo is 40 direct jobs and 100 indirect onesprob+
Official sources
