Natural gas output from Argentina’s Vaca Muerta formation in the Neuquén Basin has been growing steadily, and President Alberto Fernández has greenlighted an infrastructure project to move the fuel to market.

The aim of the project is to further spur natural gas production from Vaca Muerta and to reduce the nation’s reliance during winter months on liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports. A second phase of the project might include potential export infrastructure, Fernández said earlier in November.

The $1.5 billion first phase would involve constructing the 24 million cubic meters/day (Mm3/d) Néstor Kirchner pipeline. Energy Secretary Darío Martínez said the president “asked us to begin work immediately.” A tender process is being designed jointly by the Martinez’s...