Argentina resumed key exports of natural gas to Chile on Friday, following a stoppage of more than 48 hours that was triggered by a workers' protest in southern Argentina.
The Argentines halted supplies to central and northern Chile early on Wednesday and for a while the only gas to reach the country was through pipelines in the relatively unpopulated and nonindustrialized south.
Carlos Cortes, executive secretary of the Chilean Association of Natural Gas Distributors, said Friday gas had resumed flowing to central Chile, the most heavily populated area of the country.
Chile gets all its natural gas from Argentina, so any threat to supply is taken seriously. Argentina has hiked its gas prices recently and cut exports to Chile to meet its own energy needs. The suspension of supplies had little effect in Chile. Industry and power companies switched to alternative fuels and the government said it had enough gas to meet demand for at least four days, by which time it expected supply to be fully resumed.