据普氏能源资讯布宜诺斯艾利斯5月17日消息 阿根廷石油管道运营商Oleoductos del Valle计划投资1亿美元，在未来一年左右的时间里，将其运输能力扩大38%，以应对该国最大的页岩气生产商Vaca Muerta不断增长的产量，并避免瓶颈。

该公司在周四晚些时候的一份声明中表示，该项目将使其运输能力达到每日22.6万桶多一点，包括对四个泵站和一个储罐设施进行现代化改造以及安装新的流量计和其他基础设施。

随着Neuquen盆地页岩油产量激增，该公司将帮助Oldelval跟上管道产能不断增长的需求。Neuquen盆地是Vaca Muerta油田的所在地。

周三，Neuquen省省长Omar Gutierrez表示，该省的石油日产量将从本月的13万桶增加一倍，至2020年底的26万桶。

该省长表示，随着更多的公司从Vaca Muerta的试点水平推进到全面开发，到2020年，大规模生产的面积将从今年的2%提高到4%或5%，之后产量将继续增长。

根据能源秘书处的最新数据，该国3月份的日产量略高于502000桶。

官方数据显示，这种增长已使阿根廷得以停止原油进口，并增加出口，首先是来自巴塔哥尼亚南部的较重品种，3月份平均每天近5万桶。

尽管产量有所增长，但也有潜在瓶颈的警告。美国能源部副部长Gabriel Lopez今年3月对普氏表示，中游项目必须很快开始维持产量和出口增长。否则，该省的日产量将在2022年或2023年达到35万桶的峰值。

该公司运输该国30％的石油产量，表示希望在2024年将产能扩大至31.5万桶/天，这有助于跟上预期的增长速度。

周四，阿根廷能源规划部副部长Luciano Caratori称，预计到2030年，在Vaca Muerta的带领下，阿根廷的石油产量将以每年5.2%至7%的速度增长。

吴慧丹 摘译自 普氏能源资讯

原文如下：

Argentina's Oldelval to expand oil pipeline capacity as shale output rises

Argentinian oil pipeline operator Oleoductos del Valle plans to invest $100 million to expand its transportation capacity by 38% over the next year or so to handle growing output from Vaca Muerta, the country's biggest shale play, and avert bottlenecks.

The project will take its transport capacity to a little more than 226,000 b/d, including by modernizing four pump stations and a storage tank facility, as well as installing new flow meters and other infrastructure, the company said in a statement late Thursday.

This will help Oldelval, as the company is known, to keep up with in?creasing demand for pipeline capacity as shale oil production surges in the Neuquen Basin, home to the Vaca Muerta play.

On Wednesday, Omar Gutierrez, governor of Neuquen province, where the majority of the pilot and full-scale development projects in Vaca Muerta are located, said oil output from the province would double to 260,000 b/d by the end of 2020 from 130,000 b/d this month.

Production would continue to grow after that, he said, as more companies advance to full-scale development from pilot level in Vaca Muerta, taking the acreage in mass production to 4% or 5% in 2020 from 2% this year.

The country produced slightly more than 502,000 b/d in March, according to the latest data from the Energy Secretariat.

The growth has allowed Argentina to halt crude imports and step up exports, first of heavier varieties from southern Patagonia, which averaged nearly 50,000 b/d in March, official data show.

Despite the production growth, there have been warnings of potential bottlenecks. Gabriel Lopez, the deputy secretary of energy in Neuquen, told S&P Global Platts in March that midstream projects must soon start to sustain the production and export growth. Otherwise, he said, the province's production would peak at 350,000 b/d in 2022 or 2023.

The company, which transports 30% of the country's oil production, has said it wants to expand its capacity to 315,000 b/d in 2024, helping to keep up with the expected growth.

This is buoying expectations of export growth.

On Thursday, Argentina's deputy secretary of energy planning, Luciano Caratori, said he expects oil production to grow by between 5.2% and 7% per year through 2030, led by Vaca Muerta.

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