Cruz del Sur pipeline

Cruz del Sur pipeline is a natural gas pipeline linking Buenos Aires in Argentina with Colonia del Sacramento and Montevideo in Uruguay.

History
Construction of the pipeline started in March 2001. The pipeline was completed in November 2002 and it was inaugurated by the presidents of Uruguay and Argentina, Jorge Batlle Ibáñez and Eduardo Duhalde on 29 November 2002 in Montevideo.

Technical description
The pipeline is 215 km long and it has capacity of 1.8 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year. It cost US$150 millions.

The offshore section between Punta Lara (Argentina) and Santa Ana (Uruguay) across of the River Plate, is 57 km long. It has a diameter of 24 in and a maximum pressure of 95 bar. The Uruguayan section is 145 km long and has a maximum pressure of 80 bar.

The pipeline is supplied from the gas fields in the Neuquén Basin.

Operator
It operated by Gasoducto Cruz del Sur S.A. and owned by consortium of BG Group (40%), Pan American Energy (30%), ANCAP (20%) and Wintershall Dea (10%).

Proposed expansion
There is a proposal to prolong the pipeline to southern Brazil. The spur line would start in Colonia, Uruguay, and end in Porto Alegre, Brazil. 415 km would be laid in Uruguay and 505 km in Brazil. In Rio Grande do Sul, it would be linked with the GASBOL pipeline.