Official sources explained that the bilateral cooperation agreement will open the doors to new projects in the sector. They ask to speed up the law to promote investments that is stopped in Congress.
As anticipated by Ámbito, Argentina signed a Agreement with the European Union to promote energy cooperation. The agreement was made official this Monday during the passage of President Alberto Fernández through Brussels. The The expectation of the Government is that the brand new bilateral commitment opens the door to new investments. One of the most interesting points is the LNG for which a series of incentives are proposed that are contemplated in a bill that, for now, is stuck in Congress. The YPF president asked parliament to speed up the legislative process.
The balance that they make in the Argentine entourage of the passage through the Belgian capital is positive. On the one hand, they consider that the mercosur comes out stronger because consolidated a joint position on the agreement with the European Union, while the counterpart for the moment does not achieve unanimity to move forward with the start-up. On the other, they consider that Argentina continues to position itself as a potential supplier of key inputs for that region.
“The energy memorandum was a concrete achievement, it complements the one that was signed on critical minerals in Buenos Aires during the visit of Úrsula Von der Leyen,” a senior diplomat familiar with the negotiations told Ámbito. Along these lines, he explained: “It was something that we worked on for a long time and that will open the doors for investment to arrive in the country.”
The signature that President Fernández stamped in Brussels had been negotiating since the end of last year. The war between Russia and Ukraine turned on the alert lights in Europe, which as of this geopolitical event is rethinking its supply chains for key inputs, such as energy and mining. For this reason, Argentina arouses interest.
One of the central points of European interest in Argentina is in Vaca Muertaabove all due to the possibility of developing from there a LNG project. As this requires investments that have a floor of US$5,000 million, the Government has been promoting through a bill, a regulatory framework to encourage activity that for now is not advancing in Congress.
“We can not lose more time”demanded the president of YPF, Pablo Gonzalezto the Legislative power. Along these lines, he considered that “the regulatory framework must be approved this year because it is essential to be able to monetize our resources” and predicted that the country could export some $20 billion a year if the initiative prospers.
Although the project that has the greatest degree of progress is that of the majority state oil company in conjunction with the Malaysian firm Petronas, the Secretary of Energy, Flavia Royón, revealed that there are currently at least four other proposals on the table, waiting to confirm a regulatory framework.
Source: Ambito
