Held in Buenos Aires on June 11, 2025, EconoJournal’s Midstream & Gas Day 2025 brought together industry and government leaders to discuss ways of advancing market liberalization and infrastructure expansion as drivers of export growth.

Leopoldo Macchia, Vice President Commercial, took part in a panel on regional gas integration alongside Gabriela Aguilar, Vice President for Latin America at Excelerate Energy, and Sylvie D’Apote, Executive Director of the Brazilian Institute of Oil and Gas (IBP). The session, moderated by Brazilian journalist Felipe Maciel, focused on how to deliver Argentine gas to Brazil in a competitive and sustainable way, opening a new phase for the Southern Cone’s energy market.

Macchia pointed to Vaca Muerta’s scale as a regional driver. “We have exceptional rock quality and close to 300 TCF of resources—enough to supply Argentina and the region, with surplus capacity,” he said. “To unlock that potential, we need to move forward with some of the many LNG projects that have been announced.” He added that existing infrastructure, including gas and power interconnections with countries such as Chile and Brazil, “provides a foundation we can leverage.”

Macchia shared some of the learnings from the process to export gas to Chile, citing this as a model for regional integration. “We’ve moved from interruptible contracts to firm, year-round agreements,” he said. “We’ve built market trust by delivering on our commitments.” He added that replicating this with Brazil remains the next challenge, given the greater distance between Vaca Muerta and the country’s main demand centers.

He outlined five conditions to scale exports to Brazil:

1) First flows: break the symbolic barrier by delivering initial volumes via Bolivia, a milestone already achieved.

2) Competitive pricing: ensure gas reaches destination markets at competitive prices, with a focus on transport and distribution costs.

3) Infrastructure: advance key projects such as the Tratayén–La Carlota pipeline.

4) Regulatory framework: establish clear rules on tariffs, taxes and bilateral agreements to provide predictability.

5) Long-term demand: secure firm, long-term contracts with Brazilian buyers.

“Interest is strong across governments and the private sector. The opportunity is there; now it’s about execution,” Macchia concluded.

Tecpetrol also participated in the Innovation Talks

Alongside the main event, the Innovation Talks provided a platform to showcase developments across the value chain aimed at strengthening competitiveness in the energy sector. Luis Lanziani, Supplier Development Senior Manager, presented a case study with Luciano Chiari, Project Engineer at ProdEng, a company participating in the ProPymes Program.

“We need to maximize cost efficiency without compromising safety or quality; that’s how we ensure the sustainability of the industry,” Lanziani said at the start of the panel discussion.

Chiari outlined the innovation implemented at ProdEng, targeting a key bottleneck in completion operations: downtime between stages, which averaged 27 minutes. The team tackled the challenge by overhauling operations, rethinking planning, improving coordination and redesigning field workflows.

This led to the implementation of the Continuous Pumping model, reducing downtime intervals to just two minutes by switching between wells, keeping pumping going without interrupting operations. Beyond the immediate efficiency gains, the project highlighted further scope for improvement through automation and technology.

“The key is to question how we operate and ask ourselves whether there’s a better way—whether or not that involves technology,” Chiari observed. Lanziani added: “Sometimes it’s simply about reviewing the process. When that’s combined with input from strategic suppliers, the results are really significant.”