On March 4, 2026, Energía Argentina S.A. (“EA”) published the tender documentation for the National and International Public Tender No. 1/2026 (the “Tender”), to select a private trader-aggregator for the acquisition of liquified natural gas (“LNG”) and its subsequent commercialization in the domestic market. This Tender is in line with Resolution No. 33/2026 of the Secretary of Energy, which called for bids and approved the guidelines of the Tender and the commercialization of LNG (“Resolution 33”).
This Tender is part of a restructuring process of Argentina’s LNG market that began with Decree No. 49/2025 (“Decree 49”), which extended the emergency in the energy sector, particularly referred to transportation and distribution of natural gas declared by Decree No. 55/2023 and subsequently extended by Decrees No. 1023/2024 and No. 370/2025 (see our comments here, here and here).
In this context, Decree 49 established guidelines for determining the maximum price applicable to the sale of natural gas obtained from the regasification of LNG in the domestic market for the two upcoming winter periods. Following Decree 49, the price cap may not exceed the international benchmark established by the Secretary of Energy in Resolution 33, with an added amount in USD/MMBTU to cover costs associated with maritime freight, regasification, storage, commercialization, and transportation to the delivery point in Los Cardales, Buenos Aires. The decree also mandated a competitive process to select a private third-party to replace EA’s role in the importation and sale of LNG, thus enabling the use of the Escobar Terminal’s regasification capacity for this purpose. On this context, Resolution 33 established the international benchmark to cap the price of commercialization of the regasified LNG in the domestic market.
Information regarding the Tender can be accessed here.
1. Purpose of the Tender
The purpose of the Tender is to select a private trader-aggregator for the acquisition of LNG and its subsequent commercialization in the domestic market, through the Escobar Terminal, during the period comprised between April 1 and September 30, 2026 (the “Winter Period”).
2. Preliminary Tender Schedule
The Tender’s preliminary schedule states that bids must be submitted on April 6, 2026, from 10:00 am to 11:00 am and that inquiries can be made up to five (5) business days prior to this date.
3. General Terms of the Tender
The Tender is a national and international multi-stage process, requiring bidders to submit their bids in two envelopes. The first envelope will contain documentation proving compliance with legal, financial, and technical requirements, while the second envelope will contain the economic offer.
The economic offer shall consist of a price expressed as a single value in United States dollars per million British Thermal Units (US$/MMBTU) and shall include all costs that the bidder deems necessary to include into the sale price of regasified LNG supplied to the domestic market, as well as a reasonable profit margin for the trader-aggregator.
The Tender will be awarded to the bidder who complies with the legal, financial and technical requirements and has submitted the lowest economic offer. In the event that the bids of two or more bidders are identical, they will be requested to improve their bids within one day.
4. Escobar Terminal Use, Services and Access Agreement
Within ten (10) business days of the award, the awarded bidder must enter into a use, services and access agreement for the Escobar Terminal with EA. The term of the agreement shall be one (1) year as of the execution date. During this period, the trader-aggregator will be assigned the total capacity of the terminal for the Winter Period in exchange for the payment of the price for regasification, transportation, and other services to be provided by EA in accordance with the terms of the agreement.
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For further information, please contact Nicolás Eliaschev, Javier Constanzó, Milagros Piñeiro, María Paz Albar Díaz, Manuel Crespi, and/or Fermín Bartos.