YPF begins subsea installation for Vaca Muerta Oil Sur offshore terminal at Punta Colorada

YPF completed loading specialized mooring equipment at Puerto Quequén for installation at the Vaca Muerta Oil Sur offshore terminal in Punta Colorada, Río Negro province. The Norwegian firm DOF Group ASA deployed the anchor handling vessel Skandi Hera to install the subsea infrastructure required to secure two single point mooring buoys in the Golfo San Matías. The buoys will serve as offshore loading points for large crude carriers, eliminating the need for conventional port infrastructure and enabling operations with vessels that cannot access shallow coastal facilities.

The initial logistics campaign transported six High Holding Power anchors weighing approximately 42 tons each and six mooring chains measuring 400 meters in length and weighing close to 72 tons per unit. A second campaign with identical equipment volumes is scheduled within the coming weeks. DOF Group is executing the work under a contract valued between 25 and 50 million dollars, utilizing both the Skandi Hera and the multipurpose support vessel Skandi Patagonia, which provides dynamic positioning systems and diving bell capabilities for inspection tasks.

The subsea work is expected to require over 250 days with more than 120 technicians and specialists involved. The infrastructure will connect to the 437-kilometer pipeline from Vaca Muerta through a subsea extension located between five and nine kilometers offshore. According to project information, the mooring system will accommodate Very Large Crude Carriers capable of loading two million barrels, reducing freight logistics costs by approximately two dollars per barrel compared to smaller vessel operations.

YPF president Horacio Marín characterized the development as building world-class export infrastructure commensurate with global projects. VMOS CEO Gustavo Chaab indicated the offshore infrastructure represents concrete progress toward consolidating petroleum exports and positioning Argentina in global markets. Río Negro governor Alberto Weretilneck emphasized the project’s role in transforming the province’s productive profile and establishing the Atlantic region as a strategic hydrocarbon export point.

Puerto Quequén’s participation marks diversification beyond its traditional grain-handling operations into energy sector logistics. The facility’s role in the VMOS supply chain positions it within one of Argentina’s largest energy infrastructure projects, with exports scheduled to commence by year-end 2026.