MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Bolivia’s gas reserves ‘comfortably’ sufficient for the next twenty years

Energy and Hydrocarbons minister Fernando Vincenti

Bolivia’s proven gas reserves stand at 19 trillion cubic feet, which means the country can address domestic and foreign demand comfortably during the next 20 years announced Friday by Energy and Hydrocarbons minister Fernando Vincenti.

The announcement comes months after a US company was contracted to assess the country’s reserves, second largest in South America behind Venezuela. Volumes were considered “preliminary”.

“We have sufficient reserves to export comfortably for the next twenty years. The volume of our reserves should not be a worry for nobody. We have sufficient gas to supply the domestic and foreign markets”, underlined Vincenti interviewed by the Bolivian government news agency.

Bolivia pumps 30 million cubic metres of gas daily to Brazil and another 7 million to Argentina, the country’s only foreign markets, although new agreements and accords are in the pipeline for sales to Paraguay and Uruguay.

The reserves report contract was awarded to Ryder Scott after Golyer & MacNaughton in 2006 indicated, based on 2005 data that Bolivia’s reserves were diminishing.

According to that report, Bolivian gas reserves between 2004 and 2005 dropped from 26.7 to 18 trillion cubic feet, which was rejected by the Bolivian government arguing the company was intent in torpedoing the hydrocarbons resources nationalization policy.

Until that moment the administration of President Morales and its predecessors had argued that the country’s natural gas reserves were at least 48.7 trillion, of which, 26.7 of proven reserves and 22 trillion, not proven.
 

Vincenti pointed out that the estimated gas reserves have been calculated and correspond to an area equivalent to 5% to 7% of Bolivia’s potential hydrocarbons’ territory.

According to the Bolivian Chamber of Hydrocarbons, Venezuela’s proven reserves stand at 170.9 trillion cubic feet; Argentina 14.1 trillion cubic feet; Peru, 11.8 trillion and Brazil, 11.5 trillion.