In brief
On 9 February 2026, the National Secretariat of Energy (“Secretariat”) published Resolution 33/2026 (“Resolution”), which called for a National and International Public Tender to select a single private company to import and commercialize regasified Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) through the Escobar Terminal (“Terminal”) during the 2026 winter season.
The contract must be awarded before 21 March 2026 (40 calendar days from the publication of the Resolution).
The Resolution also approves the Guidelines for LNG imports (“Guidelines”), which include: criteria regarding the price to be offered, calculations of the price of regasified LNG, and parameters for its commercialization in the domestic market, access to the Terminal’s regasification capacity, and the characteristics of the contract to be executed with the Terminal operator.
The Secretariat is expected to issue additional regulations to implement the tender.
In focus
The Resolution implements recently issued Decree No. 49/2026, which extended until 31 December 2027 the emergency regime applicable to the natural gas transportation and distribution sector. Its most relevant provisions are:
- Purpose: The selection by the Secretariat of a single LNG marketer-aggregator (“LNG Marketer”) that will operate the entire regasification capacity of the Terminal between April and September 2026.
- Deadline for submitting bids: Regulations have not yet established a deadline for submitting bids.
- Contract with the Terminal owner: The LNG Marketer must execute a Services and Access Agreement with the Terminal owner regarding its full capacity within five days of the award, with a one-year term from the signing date.
- Price structure: The economic criterion consists of an additional value (“Additional Value”) in USD/MMBTU based on the Title Transfer Facility (TTF) benchmark published by Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE). The Guidelines require each bid to indicate a single charge in USD/MMBTU, including shipping, regasification, storage, commercialization, transportation to Los Cardales, payments under the services and access contract, and a reasonable margin for the LNG Marketer’s activity.
- Selection criteria: Bidders must demonstrate their technical, commercial, and financial capacity in a pre-qualification stage. Final selection will be based on the lowest Additional Value offered.
- Use of the Terminal: The awardee must assume 100% of the costs, use the Terminal’s regasification, storage, and transportation capacity, supply regasified gas in Los Cardales, and report to the Secretariat the volumes to be imported and the Terminal usage schedule. If the full assigned capacity is not used and local supply is at risk, the Secretariat may order additional LNG purchases.
- Right of preference: The awardee will have the right to match the best offer in a potential winter of 2027 LNG tender.
- Unsuccessful tender: If the offers are not suitable, timely, or do not comply with the tender documents, the Secretariat may declare the tender void and continue with the current scheme of LNG purchases through state owned company ENARSA.
Franco Sinagra, Associate, contributed to this alert.