Bonatti steps into Argentina via a flagship midstream build
The Italy-based contractor has joined an international consortium awarded civil works for the new system, described as the largest-diameter gas pipeline ever built in Argentina. The civil works were awarded for a twin 527-kilometre corridor, and reporting places the contract value at about US$1.2 billion.
Bonatti will share execution with Pumpco, a U.S. pipeline contractor and MasTec subsidiary, and Contreras Hermanos, the Argentine firm that participated in the design and engineering and serves as the local partner. For Bonatti, this is its first contract in Argentina and an entry into the project.
The system will link Vaca Muerta to the Río Negro coast, where the LNG export infrastructure is planned. This route mirrors the emerging oil and gas export corridor to the Golfo San Matías and reinforces Vaca Muerta’s shift from domestic supply base to export platform.
The trunkline’s construction is tied to a final investment decision expected in the second half of 2026. Once that decision is taken, Bonatti, Pumpco and Contreras Hermanos will move from engineering to full execution on the record-diameter line. For investors, the linkage between FID timing and pipeline mobilisation is a key schedule and risk marker.
Part of a wider YPF–Eni–XRG LNG export chain
The Argentina LNG pipeline is not a stand-alone asset. It is the midstream backbone of a wider LNG chain that YPF, Eni and XRG are advancing off the Río Negro coast. The first phase targets 12 million tonnes per year of LNG through two floating liquefaction units, each with capacity of about 6 million tonnes per year.
These unconventional gas areas in Vaca Muerta are designed to feed the floating LNG units via the new trunkline. The structure creates an integrated chain from resource through pipeline to offshore liquefaction, with three sponsors at each stage.
For Bonatti, the award aligns with its specialisation in large-diameter gas infrastructure and its long history across Europe, Africa and the Middle East. That track record positions it as one of Europe’s reference contractors for complex gas works, in the same Mediterranean infrastructure sphere where Eni has built its own franchise.
Sicim is building the Southern Energy pipeline for a separate LNG project in the same coastal region. In Río Negro, the two firms face each other on parallel gas export routes rather than partnering on a single line.
For capital allocators, the combination of a committed contractor group, a defined route and deep-pocketed sponsors increases the probability that the Argentina LNG pipeline and associated FLNG units move from plan to steel once FID lands. The next markers to watch include the formal FID window in late 2026, progress on shipyard slots for the floating units, and how quickly Bonatti and its partners can open work fronts along the Neuquén–Río Negro corridor once the green light is given. Additional project details are drawn from Shale24’s reporting.
