Imports of liquefied natural gas into Argentina registered a 7% decline in July from the same month in 2013, while domestic gas production ticked up 0.7% over the same period, recent data from Argentina's General Mosconi Institute and Platts unit Bentek Energy showed.
Argentina imported 1.492 million cubic meters of LNG in July, compared with 1.611 million cu m in July 2013. The year-on-year decline in LNG imports in July was the first on record going back to 2009. Average temperatures in the capital city of Buenos Aires are the coldest of the year in July and correspond with significant increases in LNG imports used largely for residential and commercial heating needs.
While total domestic gas production in Argentina ticked up just 0.7% in July compared with the same month last year, YPF registered a 15% increase in production, and Pan American Energy saw a 3.9% bump in production, General Mosconi Institute data showed.
The modest uptick in domestic gas production has recently contributed to a sense of optimism regarding gas supplies in Argentina. In August, LNG imports totaled just 1.303 million cu m, a 19.3% decline from the same month in 2013, when the South American nation imported 1.614 million cu m.
In early September, Argentina suspended a widely anticipated buy tender for 13 LNG cargoes delivering from November through March 2015, market sources said.
Some market sources have since disputed claims made by YPF about being sufficiently supplied with natural gas, saying that Argentina's recent debt default may be impacting the country's ability to purchase LNG on the international market.
