Argentina GNEA Project

For a significant Argentine pipeline, we leveraged our local resources and expertise to provide a superior pipe coating system solution.

When construction of Argentina’s GNEA natural gas pipeline is complete, up to 27.7 million cubic meters of natural gas per day will be transported from the Margarita Gas Field in Bolivia to Argentina’s northern and central provinces. With approximately 925 miles (1,490 kilometers) of trunklines and 1,677 miles (2700 kilometers) of branchlines required for the project, Argentina’s state-owned oil company, Enarsa, needed pipe coating solutions providers with the right logistics and installation support capabilities to ensure the integrity and performance of the pipeline for its lifetime use. Due to our coating facilities near Buenos Aires and our global experience on similar projects, Shawcor was selected to provide both the coating and transmission sleeves for the entire trunkline and portions of the branchlines on the GNEA pipeline system.

We applied our 3LPE anti-corrosion coating to 925 miles (1,490 kilometers) of trunklines with an OD of 24" in our facility in Valentín Alsina, the only coating plant in Argentina capable of applying external coatings on steel pipes with diameters of 20" to 42". More than 90 miles (150 kilometers) of branchlines with an OD of 10-3/4" were applied at our Escobar site.

Shawcor also selected its Canusa GTS-65™ transmission sleeve system for the project to protect the girth weld joints of 310 miles (500 kilometers) of trunklines with a 24" OD and 280 miles (450 kilometers) of branchlines with ODs of 4-1/2", 6-5/8", 8-5/8" and 10-3/4". Additionally, the horizontal directional drilling applications in the project used Canusa’s DDX™ system to deliver consistent anti-corrosion properties while improving abrasion, gouge and shear resistance needed to preserve the field joint coating system during the pipeline pull-through process.

Canusa’s GTS-65™, which provides superior corrosion protection, was supplied in a tailor-made thickness to comply with Enarsa specification requirements. Thus, not only did Shawcor provide consistent corrosion and mechanical impact resistance across the entire pipeline, we also increased installation efficiency. Thanks to our extensive on-site training provided by experts from our field service engineering team to the contractor crews, we ensured the proper installation of the products.

With Shawcor, Enarsa will realize its goal of ensuring the long-term pipeline performance and corrosion resistance of the GNEA pipeline system. Due to Shawcor’s conveniently located regional facility, which expedited the delivery of coated pipe to the project location, and our training resources, we helped the project save time and money.