CMS Gas Transmission and Storage Company (CMS), an affiliate of CMS Energy, a major member of the consortium of U.S., Chilean, and Argentine companies, undertook this project. CMS managed the design and construction of the project and contracted with Fluor to perform detail design, engineering, procurement and construction management.

The pipeline begins at Coronel Cornejo in the Argentine province of Salta and extends through subtropical commercial farmlands, a tropical rain forest, river valleys and severe mountain terrain in the Andes. It enters Chile at Paso de Jama and traverses the Atacama desert, which is the driest place in the world. The pipeline ends at an electrical power plant near the Pacific port of Mejillones in northern Chile. The terrain in Chile is primarily desert with underlying solid rock and areas of steep terrain.

The pipeline attains its maximum altitude in Chile, reaching an elevation of 5,000 meters (16,400 feet) above sea level. It was the highest-altitude pipeline constructed at that time.