Multinational tubemaker Tenaris has opened a new Argentinean service center in Senillosa, Neuquen province, aimed at oil and natural gas operators in the Vaca Muerta shale play.
The new service center is an extension of Tenaris' existing service center in the city of Neuquen. The Senillosa service center is 33 km (21 miles) from that city and closer to Vaca Muerta, it said in a statement.
The Senillosa service center has the capacity to laminate 15,000 mt of pipes annually, Tenaris said. After already investing $5 million in the facility, Tenaris said its total investment can reach $11 million in the 2015-2016 period.
The Senillosa service center has railway access that allows products produced at Tenaris' seamless manufacturing plant in Campana to be loaded directly on trains for transport to Neuquen, the company said.
Vaca Muerta is a 30,000-sq km (11,583 square miles) shale deposit located in the Argentine province of Neuquen. The largest shale play in Latin America, it has technically recoverable resources of 20 billion barrels of oil and 583 Tcf of gas, representing 60% of Argentina's shale oil and 40% of its shale gas.
In Argentina, Tenaris owns Siderca, the country's sole steel tube producer, with three plants in Santa Fe and Buenos Aires and total installed capacity of 900,000 mt/year of seamless tubes and 430,000 mt/year of welded tubes.
Tenaris has been an important player in the oil and gas market in Argentina, starting with the opening of the Siderca production center in Campana in 1954. Around 70% of Campana's tubes are destined to exports for the international oil industry.
