The long-distance tugs are BOKA Alpine (IMO 9344784) and BOKA Summit (IMO 9315575). Position-keeping at the field used SL Trogon (IMO 9375202) and SL Twite (IMO 9375173). Breakbulk.News dates the departure from the Hilli location to early August. World Oil says CoreMarine completed the Cameroon disconnection after eight years on station.

Hilli Episeyo (IMO 7382720) is 293 m and 2.45 mtpa. Breakbulk, citing Golar, says the unit loaded 156 cargoes with 100 percent economic uptime on the Sanaga Sud field with Perenco and SNH. Singapore is for modifications, life extension, winterisation and a new mooring system. World Oil puts arrival in Golfo San Matías at mid-2027. Breakbulk says a 20-year Southern Energy contract starts in 2027 and cites Golar’s $5.7 billion adjusted earnings backlog figure, excluding inflation and commodity-linked payments.

That is one project. Buenos Aires Times, 29 August, names it Southern Energy (SESA): Pan American Energy 30 percent, YPF 25 percent, Pampa Energía 20 percent, Harbour Energy 15 percent, Golar LNG 10 percent. SESA closed $900 million for the San Matías Pipeline — 472 km, 36-inch, 27 million cubic metres a day from Tratayén to the Río Negro coast. Construction was to start in August 2026 and finish mid-2028. The two floating units named for that system are Hilli Episeyo and Esperanza (previously MKII), online 2027 and 2028, combined 6 mtpa. World Oil still prints the second hull as MKII FLNG. There is no VesselFinder page under Esperanza or MKII in this pack. Golar’s donor print for that conversion is FUJI LNG (IMO 9275359), former Muscat LNG. That is not Höegh Esperanza (IMO 9780354).

A second, larger FLNG plan

Oil & Gas Journal, 18 August, reports a different file: Argentina LNG, YPF with Eni and XRG (ADNOC’s international investment arm), seeking RIGI cover for a $51 billion export scheme. First phase is 12 mtpa through two FLNG units off Punta Colorada in the San Matías Gulf. Both units are expected to be operating by 2031. FID on the full project is expected by year-end. Construction of the land system is scheduled 2027–30 and remains subject to that FID.

OGJ names a 70 million cubic metres a day Integrated Gas Treatment Plant in the Meseta Buena Esperanza block, about 22 km from Plaza Huincul, $2.1 billion, in service 2030. Treated gas would move on a dedicated 48-inch line about 520 km to the FLNG units. A parallel 24-inch line would carry unstabilized condensate to a Río Negro fractionation and export plant. Part of the corridor is shared with the Vaca Muerta Oil Sur crude line. YPF selected a SACDE–Tecnimont consortium for detailed engineering. Those two unnamed FLNGs are not the SESA Hilli / Esperanza pair. The 12 mtpa and 6 mtpa figures are not merged.

Eni’s Uruguay OFF-5 operatorship is a separate file. See Uruguay OFF-5.

Planned terminals and the sand that feeds the wells

Punta Colorada is the common place-name. SESA puts floating liquefaction off the Río Negro coast in Golfo San Matías. OGJ puts the larger pair off Punta Colorada. El Cronista, 24 August, has TBSA planning new rail from Añelo through Contraalmirante Cordero and Paso Córdoba toward the Atlantic ports of San Antonio Este and Punta Colorada, with Bahía Blanca also in the map. Cantero calls the Vaca Muerta-to-sea spine about 700 km inside a staged network of about 1,000 km. That is not a simple restart of the old Tren Norpatagónico.

Splash247, 4 September, puts the sand problem in numbers. Vaca Muerta used about 5.5 million tonnes of silica proppant in 2025. Demand may reach 8 million tonnes in 2026–27. Most of it still moves more than 1,300 km by truck from the Paraná basin to Neuquén. Puerto Quequén handled more than 9 million tonnes in 2025 and received 281,824 trucks and no railway wagons. Four municipalities want the Ayacucho–Tandil–Lobería–Balcarce–Quequén line back in the concession framework. The proposed Magdalena Channel would give a two-way Atlantic outlet instead of the one-way Punta Indio Channel.

ADNSUR prints 4,000–4,300 sand trucks on the Entre Ríos–Neuquén run, six trips a month, 70–75 hours against a 48-hour plan. El Cronista quotes Ignacio Rovira: 11,000–15,000 tonnes of sand per unconventional well; road cost near $185 a tonne; multimodal toward $50. Trucking can move about 5 million tonnes. Eight to 10 million tonnes inside two years needs another mode. Those sand and rail figures are not a FID on either FLNG scheme.

The operational point is the same place on the map. Gas to the FLNG needs a pipe to Punta Colorada. The wells that fill that pipe need sand, rail and an Atlantic berth. Hilli is the hull already moving. The second SESA unit and the YPF–Eni–XRG pair are still paper.

Established

• Hilli disconnected off Cameroon after eight years; Boskalis tow to Singapore with BOKA Alpine and BOKA Summit (official Boskalis card + named press).
• SESA: $900 million San Matías Pipeline 472 km / 36-inch; Hilli + Esperanza (ex-MKII) for 6 mtpa, 2027–28 (Buenos Aires Times).
• Argentina LNG (YPF–Eni–XRG): RIGI filing, 12 mtpa, two FLNG off Punta Colorada, FID expected year-end, units by 2031 (OGJ).

Not established

• That SESA 6 mtpa and Argentina LNG 12 mtpa are one project.
• AIS name or IMO for Esperanza / MKII (donor print is FUJI LNG 9275359).
• That the Cameroon tow card names Argentina (Boskalis card does not).
• A single official rail corridor (Quequén vs Bahía Blanca–Añelo vs TBSA to San Antonio Este / Punta Colorada).