Argentina's natural gas imports surged to 39.4 million cubic meters/d in June, up some 64% from 24.1 million cu m/d in same month a year ago, the Energy Secretariat said Tuesday.
Imports also were up 8.8% compared with 36.2 million cu m/d in May, according to a monthly data report.
Argentina, which relies on gas for 50% of its energy needs, imports gas by pipeline from Bolivia and in its liquefied form from global suppliers.
Bolivian gas imports rose to 20.6 million cu m/d in June compared with 9.8 million cu m/d in June 2011 and 16.7 million cu m/d this past May.
LNG imports increased to the equivalent in send-out capacity of 18.8 million cu m/d in June from 14.3 million cu m/d in the year-earlier period and were down from 19.4 million cu m/d in May, the report showed.
Argentina is boosting gas imports due to a mismatch between energy demand and domestic gas production. At 120 million cu m/d this year, gas production is down 16% from a 2004 peak of 143.1 million cu m/d, according to industry data.
The government has put a priority on importing gas to meet energy needs, because of its lower price compared with diesel and fuel oil, according to officials.
Yet the strategy, once focused on stepping up LNG imports, shifted over the past few months to put a preference on Bolivian gas, which is cheaper at about $10/MMBtu compared with the $16/MMBtu the country has been paying for LNG. Argentina this month signed a deal with Bolivia to increase imports 20% to 16.3 million cubic meters/d in the second half of this year from 13.6 million cu m/d in the first half, and then ramp them up another 18% to 19.2 million cu m/d in 2013 with the aim of reaching 27.7 million cu m/d in 2017.
Argentina exported 245,175 cu m/d of gas in June, down from 305,413 cu m/d in the year-earlier period and up from 188,852 cu m/d in May. Argentina still exports gas supplies despite a production decline because of a lack of domestic pipeline capacity to deliver gas within the country. JUNE GAS CONSUMPTION DOWN 0.8% ON YEAR
The country consumes an average of 125 million cu m/d of gas, with demand rising in the colder months of May to September.
Natural gas consumption in June was 3.872 billion cubic meters/month, down 0.8% from 3.903 billion cu m/month in the year-earlier period, the government's statistics agency Indec said Tuesday.
That equates to consumption of about 129.1 million cu m/d in June, compared with 130.1 million cu m/d in the year-earlier period.
June consumption was up 0.5% compared with May, Indec said.
