AESA was born in 1948 by the initiative and effort of Mr. Alfredo Envangelista. The company´s purpose was to design, manufacture equipment and execute construction works for the energy industry.

Barracas neighborhood, in Buenos Aires, was the location for the first shop-floor of the newly-born company, where they manufactured and pre-assembled pieces of equipment that would be installed in the first sites.

During those first years, the company had been able to position itself in the national market, making incursions in areas that went far beyond the original activities, getting outstanding results in the manufacturing, supplying and installation of equipment and facilities for the oil & gas industry, showing its adaptation skills, its business aggressive approach, its commitment to quality and its leadership

During that time, all the growth seen in the industry as a whole and especially in AESA, was the result of having the State-run YPF and Gas del Estado as main customers.

 

During this period the company decided to start manufacturing industry-related equipments that until that moment were imported from abroad. For that purpose, it entered into license agreements with a number of foreign companies, such as Graver Tank, for the manufacturing and assembly of floating-roof storage tanks, thus becoming the main national supplier of these kinds of equipment.

At that time the company manufactured the country's biggest fixed-roof tank for YPF's Puerto Rosales storage plant, and South American biggest floating-roof tank for the Chilean ENAP, AESA's first exporting project.

Thanks to the increasingly intense pace of the industrial shop-floor activity, it was no longer seen as an accessory operation. In order to raise the autonomy and production capacity of the shop-floors, the company consolidated all the industrial and construction activities in Canning, buying new machinery within and outside the country.

The projects performed by the company during this period, show increasing magnitude, complexity and economic assessment. The company also started a diversification process, performing projects for other industries, such as mining, viticulture & wine production, food, and nuclear energy industries.

Although the company continued working a lot for YPF and Gas del Estado, during this phase the customer base grew with the introduction of Astra, Pan American Energy, Sade, Techint, PGM, Somina, Enap and the National Atomic Energy Commission, among others.

 

At the beginning of this period and thanks to its gradual consolidation and diversification, the company was able to face and overcome the difficulties resulting from the international oil crisis and the changing conditions in the internal market. Along with the special projects, such as the nuclear energy one, the company continued to have an increasing presence in traditional areas, such as the manufacturing, supplying and installation of equipment for the oil & gas industry, carrying out projects of increasing complexity and magnitude all over the country.

In 1986 ASTRA bought the company, and its founders left the management after 37 years. The company changed its name, becoming ASTRA EVANGELISTA.

During this period, the company made the first experiences in operation and maintenance services for oil areas, creating the Oil Services division in the late '90s.

During those years the company received the ASME certificate for equipment manufacturing and assembly, and the ISO 9000 certificate for its quality management system. This recognition meant the company was meeting the highest quality standards in the industry.

In 1996 ASTRA was bought by Repsol, becoming part of Repsol Group. In 1998 Repsol decided to change the legal registered name of the company to A-Evangelista SA, but without changing the business name, which continued to be ASTRA EVANGELISTA.

In 1999 after the purchasing of YPF shares by Repsol, YPF and ASTRA EVANGELISTA became a part of the same economic group, Repsol-YPF.

During this phase the customer portfolio included major players such as Pérez Companc, YPF Boliviano, Esso, Shell, EG3, CGC, Total Austral, Central Dock Sud, and Tecpetrol, among others.

 

The change of scenery and the incorporation to Repsol-YPF Group, provided the company with a strong business, operational and economic support for developing biggest projects, consolidating the trend initiated in the previous stage.

In 2001 during ASTRA and YPF merger (both companies controlled by Repsol), A-Evangelista SA capital stock were transferred to YPF SA, and this is still the situation today. The challenges from international high-complexity projects resulted in the company's opening of subsidiaries in Brazil and Bolivia. These projects put the company to the test of solving logistic issues in far, hard-to-access places which had insufficient means of communication. And the skills and expertise of the company were proved.

AESA's relevance in the oil & gas industry continued to grow with important projects such as Carina & Aries in Tierra del Fuego for Total Austral, the Colonia-Montevideo gas pipeline in Uruguay for Gasoducto Cruz del Sur, Sábalo Gas Plant in Bolivia for Petrobras, El Portón LTS and LPG plants in Neuquén for YPF, Margarita Gas Pipeline in Bolivia for Maxus, HTN in La Plata Refinery for YPF, Splitter II in Luján de Cuyo Refinery for YPF, Sulfur Recovery in Brazil for REFAP, Pollutant Removal Unit in Bolivia for Petrobrás, Aguada San Roque in Neuquen for Total Austral, and FCC-B in La Plata Refinery for YPF, among others.

In 2005, after a change process within the organization, the new business management carried out a number of transformations, including revamping the corporate image and changing the business name to AESA. This transformation process was not limited to the image, there were also a number of investments in strategic areas which made it possible to expand and streamline Canning Plant operational capacity, and to improve the work conditions and the services provided to its own people, main protagonist of the firm's rich history.

Andina, Gas Natural BAN, Gasoducto Cruz del Sur (Uruguay), Refap (Brazil), TGS, TGN, and Petrobrás Bolivia were added to the traditional customer base during those years.