For the problem represented by the imminent lack of gas and other emergencies such as inflationary chaos, we can read it every day in the newspapers, listen to it through spokesmen and spokeswomen, with less and less hesitation, like a premeditated key phrase, from a laboratory to justify the speech of the official on duty: “We suffer due to the ups and downs of the international context.”
Here you have to stop: we do not live on an island and by the way it is true. We are part of a connected world, at least economically. But what is questionable, above all, is the complete omission of our responsibility in the matter.
It is not knowing how to foresee, or worse yet, foreseeing but not acting, for whatever reason. Without forgetting the stoking that implies reiterating ad nauseam the same “half truth” until placing it as true among the people.
For example, while we suffer from the lack of gas, there is still some political sector that is making the hydrocarbon wealth of what would be a Vaca Muerta 2, which is the offshore exploitation off the coast of Mar del Plata, where there is an unbeatable possibility for the country. It is crazy that a gas basin of such magnitude cannot be exploited by judicial decisions supported, as in this case, by the official political sector of Mar del Plata. Unfortunately this is what is happening today with energy shortages.
The reality is that the winter months are approaching and if the State does not buy gas -because at this time of year and the crisis has no choice but to buy it-, we are going to suffer the consequences of shortages.
In this scenario, residential demand will surely be prioritized, as usually happens, and industry will inevitably the one that bears the brunt, with or without scheduled outages, but with the certainty that it will be the workers who will pay for the indecision of those who should adopt these measures in time.
Nothing more and nothing less than the industry will be harmed, that activity that the same apologists for international guilt claim to defend or want to motorize to put our country on its feet. Here’s a piece of advice to strengthen the industry: don’t stop it.
We insist that it is necessary to know how to anticipate and react in a timely and appropriate manner. The lack of gas today takes on another dimension due to the question of the war, but they are problems that are not just now, but have been dragging on for a long time.
Paradoxically, it can be said that Argentina has plenty of gas, although it is underground. As far as this resource is concerned, the greatest difficulty we face as a country is that we do not have sufficient infrastructure to store it.
For this reason, it is impossible for us to produce all the gas we need for the winter. Of course, the tariffs don’t help either, they are underfoot and that is why the companies lack the motivation to produce it.
For our part, we have been calling for investments for a long time. We believe that completing the Néstor Kirchner gas pipeline in Vaca Muerta is essential to unleash the potential that Argentina has in terms of gas. This is the path on which it is appropriate to continue working in the future, in the medium and long term.
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However, Vaca Muerta does not have to be the only hope, the policy should consider the immense natural resources offered by the Argentine land and sea, such as the aforementioned case of the Buenos Aires coasts. We also have to immediately solve two problems related to the acquisition of gas: its high price and how to get it. We maintain that to get through the winter it is necessary to purchase Liquefied Natural Gas (CNG) ships.
The State must react as soon as possible to have the gas in July, since from the time it is tendered until the ships arrive at the port, it usually takes about 45 days. It will then be necessary to pause internal politics and correct the decision to grant low funds for gas payments abroad. Its high value must be partially negotiated or coped with, at the risk of falling into even more complex scenarios that can cause a stoppage in the industry.
General Secretary of the Bahía Blanca Private Oil and Gas Union.
Source: Ambito
