He Energy sector reversed its trade balance in 2024 after 13 years of deficit and contributed an additional US$4,092 million to the country’s balance of goods, compared to 2023. It happened, fundamentally, due to the fall in imports, both in quantities and prices, but also due to a significant improvement in export quantities.
According to a survey by Nadin Arganarazdirector of the Argentine Institute of Fiscal Analysis (IARAF), between January and July there was a energy surplus of US$2.933 billion, when in the same period last year there was a deficit of US$1.159 billion.
With the NK pipeline and the recession, LNG imports collapsed
The main contribution came from imports: the fall in the quantities acquired from abroad represented a Savings of US$2.247 million in year-on-year terms, while the effect of the drop in prices meant savings additional US$587 million, rounding off a total relief equivalent to US$2.834 million.
In the segmentation by type of product, the INDEC numbers showed that More than half of this figure was explained by the collapses in liquefied natural gas (LNG) and diesel, Also notable were declines in imported electricity from hydroelectric dams in Brazil, gasoline, fuel oil and gaseous natural gas imported from Bolivia.
In percentage terms, The declines compared to 2023 were at least -25%, reaching almost -90% in the case of fuel oil. It is worth noting that this dynamic responded, on the one hand, to the recession that caused energy consumption by industries to fallbut also to the entry into operation of the President Néstor Kirchner Gas Pipeline inaugurated by the previous administrationwhich allowed gas to be evacuated from Dead Cow towards the main consumption centers.
Oil exports did their thing
On the side of the exportsThe increase in the quantities sold implied an income of foreign currency of US$1,278 million, which more than compensated for the negative impact of lower export prices, which subtracted some US$20 million.
In this case, It was crude oil that made almost all the contributionsince its exports grew 65% year-on-year and they added some US$1.227 million more than in 2023, within the framework of a record production level in Vaca Muerta.
Not only was it the energy product that added the most dollars to the country’s coffers, but it also led the table when analyzing all the products that Argentina exchanges with the rest of the world.
It is worth remembering that The country began to have a deficit in the energy balance from 2011as a result of a combination of factors, which included a buoyant economic activity and a collapse in conventional hydrocarbon production, a consequence, in turn, of the few investments made by the sector previously.
He Unconventional production boom in Vaca Muertadriven in large part by the recovery of a part of YPF by the State, allowed this trend to be reversed. Added to this was the aforementioned development of the necessary transport infrastructure.
Nadin energy balance 2.JPG
Source: Ambito
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