Compañía Mega SA will invest about $360 million to expand its capacity to separate, process, transport, and store natural gas liquids produced in Argentina’s Neuquén basin.

On July 31, the evaluation committee approved the project for inclusion in Argentina’s Large Investment Incentive Regime (RIGI). The expansion will add about 1,500 tonnes/day of NGL production, equivalent to more than 500,000 tonnes/year of incremental output and an increase of about 27% from the company’s current production capacity.

The work will be carried out between now and yearend 2028 at installations in Neuquén, Río Negro, La Pampa, and Buenos Aires provinces.

At the Loma La Lata separation plant in Neuquén, the scope includes expansion and modification of the slug catcher, debottlenecking work, and installation of an additional turbocompressor and a new NGL vessel.

The modifications will increase inlet separation and processing capacity and adapt the infrastructure to gas streams with higher liquids content associated with continued development of Vaca Muerta.

Mega also will build two pumping stations on the roughly 600-km pipeline connecting Loma La Lata with Bahía Blanca: PS3 at General Roca, Río Negro, and PS4 at La Adela, La Pampa.

The additional pumping capacity will increase system throughput and accommodate the incremental NGL volume without construction of a parallel pipeline.

At the Bahía Blanca fractionation plant, Mega will add NGL storage capacity and carry out electrical upgrades and improvements to the steam and condensate systems.

About 80% of incremental production will be marketed internationally as propane, butane, and natural gasoline. The remaining 20% will supply the domestic market, primarily as ethane feedstock for Argentina’s petrochemical industry.

Mega currently processes about 40% of the natural gas produced in Neuquén basin. Its integrated infrastructure includes NGL separation at Loma La Lata, pipeline transportation to Bahía Blanca, and downstream fractionation, storage, and product loading.

The company is Argentina’s largest LPG exporter and one of the country’s leading ethane suppliers to the petrochemical industry. Mega is owned by YPF (38%), Petrobras (34%), and Dow (28%).

Bahía Blanca complex expansion

The RIGI-approved investment forms part of an expansion program Mega has been carrying out since 2023 to increase capacity across its NGL processing system.

As part of that program, the company commissioned a new fractionation train at its Bahía Blanca complex in June. The unit increased capacity to separate the mixed NGL stream transported from Loma La Lata into ethane, propane, butane, and natural gasoline.

The latest work will extend that expansion to inlet liquids separation in the Neuquén basin, pipeline transportation, and additional storage and utility capacity at the Bahía Blanca complex.