Argentina signed its first long-term LNG export agreement through Southern Energy SA’s (SESA) contract with Securing Energy for Europe GmbH (SEFE), committing 2 million tonnes/year (tpy) of LNG for an 8-year term with deliveries starting in late 2027.
The firm contract comes on the heels of a heads of agreement signed in December 2025.
The contracted volume represents more than 80% of the nominal capacity of the FLNG unit Hilli Episeyo, which will anchor the first phase of SESA’s floating liquefaction development planned offshore Golfo San Matías, Río Negro province.
The converted LNG carrier, owned by Golar LNG Ltd., has liquefaction capacity of 2.45 million tpy and integrated storage capacity of 125,000 cu m.
Combined with a second unit planned for the site, the project is designed to reach about 6 million tpy of total LNG export capacity.
SESA, a consortium of Pan American Energy (30%), YPF SA (25%), Pampa Energía SA (20%), Harbour Energy PLC (15%), and Golar LNG (10%), has committed more than $15 billion across the project’s development phases.
Feedgas will be sourced from Vaca Muerta production in the Neuquén basin, primarily from acreage operated by the consortium partners, and transported via pipeline to the Río Negro coast for offshore liquefaction.
First offtake
German-government owned SEFE will become the project’s anchor LNG buyer and “the first German energy company to receive LNG cargoes from Argentina,” said Frédéric Barnaud, SEFE chief commercial officer.
The agreement comes as European buyers continue to secure Atlantic-basin LNG to reduce exposure to geopolitical risk in traditional gas routes while Argentina advances commercialization of its Vaca Muerta resource base.
