BUENOS AIRES, May 16 (Reuters) - A severe cold snap in

Argentina has forced gas suppliers to hit the breaks on fuel

distribution to gas stations and industries around the country,

companies said, limiting supply to those on contracts which

allow them to be cut in such circumstances.

Half of the customers of Camuzzi Gas Pampeana,

which supplies 269 gas stations in the provinces of Buenos Aires

and La Pampa, has been affected, spokesperson Rodrigo Espinosa

told Reuters.

"The main objective is to give priority to the gas available

in the main pipelines to the priority demand: homes, businesses,

hospitals, government agencies, schools."

Some 1.5 million vehicles nationwide, including public

transport, taxis and cars, are using compressed natural gas

(CNG) because it is cheaper than other fuels, Camuzzi said.

Espinosa noted the disruption was not due to gas shortages

but to sudden low temperatures that caused gas demand to double

on Monday compared to same day last year.

MetroGas, the country's largest natural gas distributor with

2.4 million customers, including gas stations and industries,

said the cut was partial and regulations prevented residential

customers from being cut off except in a national emergency.

"This means that when demand is higher than usual, the least

urgent customers are cut off first: CNG and industries," the

company said, adding such weather-based cuts tend to normalize

quickly.

"This time it happened because it was the first cold snap

and there was a lot of demand," it said. "For the rest of the

(southern) winter, there would need to be a string of very cold

days for this to happen again. Last winter it happened twice."

Argentina is seeking to become a key global energy supplier

by harnessing exports from its massive Vaca Muerta shale

formation. It is working on reversing its northern pipeline to

ship gas to northern provinces, Brazil and beyond.