US and Argentina Launch Andes-Atlantic Energy and Minerals Corridor
The United States and Argentina introduced the Andes-Atlantic Corridor, a plan to connect inland energy and mineral production to ports. It includes up to US$7 billion in US export credit through 2027, though about US$6 billion is a non-binding offer for the Argentina LNG project. Final decisions on that project, rail bids, and possible mining financing remain pending.
Argentina, home to roughly 46 million people and South America’s second-biggest economy, possesses the Vaca Muerta shale formation and significant lithium brine resources. Much of this oil, gas, lithium and copper lies inland in the west and northwest, where aging rail links, limited power infrastructure and insufficient pipelines slow access to ports.
The corridor was unveiled in New York on 23 September by Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno and US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, meeting alongside the UN General Assembly. It falls under the G7’s Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, launched in 2022, and is described as the first such corridor in the Western Hemisphere.
If projects advance, the corridor could affect communities near inland energy and mineral sites, rail and port areas, workers, and investors. Better transport and power links might lower costs and create jobs, while public revenues and local services may change. Yet most financing is not committed, and key decisions on Argentina LNG, rail bids and mining support remain pending. The plan may therefore shape expectations more than immediate outcomes, with benefits and risks unevenly distributed across regions and groups.