Adani’s first South American foothold
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ), through its step-down subsidiary Adani Harbour International FZCO, has won a decade-long marine services contract for Argentina’s first LNG export project. The mandate followed a global tender run by Southern Energy S.A. (SESA).
The contract was awarded to a consortium between Adani Harbour International and Argentina-based Meridian Group. It will be executed via Meridian Transportes Marítimos, a 51:49 joint venture between the Indian and local partners.
The consortium will provide end-to-end marine services for Southern Energy’s floating LNG scheme in the San Matías Gulf. These include tugboat operations for LNG carriers, offshore logistics and supply support, and crew transfer. The service package will be backed by four high-specification tugboats, one anchor handling tug supply (AHTS) vessel and one crew boat.
APSEZ describes the win as a strategic extension of its international marine services business, which already covers 12 countries and supports ports, LNG terminals, national oil companies, refineries and offshore facilities. Ashwani Gupta, APSEZ’s chief executive, said the project shows the group’s ability to support large-scale energy infrastructure across geographies and to help build reliable maritime ecosystems for new energy trade corridors.
For Adani, the contract deepens its logistics exposure to seaborne gas and reinforces its role in supporting LNG flows into Asian markets, including India, where demand growth and energy security priorities remain central to policy and corporate strategy.
Floating LNG as Argentina’s export platform
SESA, a joint venture between Golar LNG and Pan American Energy, is developing Southern Energy’s FLNG project off Argentina’s Río Negro province. The scheme will liquefy natural gas from the General San Martín pipeline on board the FLNG Hilli Episeyo, moored in the San Matías Gulf, with commercial operations targeted for September 2027.
In its first phase, the project is expected to produce about 2.45 million tonnes per year of LNG, equivalent to roughly 28 cargoes annually. This positions it as Argentina’s first operational LNG export project. SESA plans a second floating unit, MK II, which would add around 3.5 million tonnes per year from late 2028, bringing total FLNG capacity to about 6 million tonnes per year.
These volumes form part of a wider export strategy anchored in Argentina’s sizeable gas reserves and growing pipeline output from plays such as Vaca Muerta. With agreements in place to support potential exports of up to 10 million tonnes per year to India from 2027, Southern Energy’s FLNG system is positioned as a bridge between Argentina’s upstream resources and demand centres in South Asia.
Meanwhile, European buyers are also locking in supply from the Southern Energy chain. Germany’s SEFE has signed an eight-year LNG offtake agreement with a South American player linked to the Argentina FLNG development, reinforcing the project’s role in diversifying Atlantic Basin LNG flows.
For investors, the Argentina LNG project offers a case study in how floating infrastructure and cross-border partnerships can compress timelines for new export capacity while distributing risk between local resource holders, specialist FLNG operators and global logistics providers. As the San Matías Gulf scheme moves towards first gas, investors will watch execution on schedule, the ramp-up of Hilli Episeyo and MK II, and how Adani and its partners translate this initial foothold into a broader South American energy logistics presence.
