MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Bolivia diverts LNG to Argentina and leaves Brazil 7 million cm short per day

As of May, Bolivians have increased gas exports to Argentina to 14 million cubic meters per day, from the previous level of 8 to 10 million cubic meters per day

Bolivia is diverting natural gas to Argentina, and unexpectedly has reduced the supply to Petrobras by 30% this month, catching the state-owned company off guard. As a result, Petrobras experienced a loss of more or less than 7 million cubic meters of gas per day. YPFB, the Bolivian state company, had been supplying Petrobras with approximately 20 million cubic meters per day.

Faced with this situation, Petrobras had to seek alternative routes and is now purchasing additional volumes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to meet commitments and contracts with domestic suppliers.

The main problem is that LNG is much more expensive than natural gas. Therefore, if this situation persists for a long time, the gas supplied by Petrobras could become more expensive.

Petrobras said it is already looking into adequate measures to ensure that Bolivia and YPFB fulfill the contract for natural gas supply to Brazil. The gas supply that Bolivia cut will go to Argentina, which is experiencing freezing temperatures and requires more gas to heat its population.

As of this month, Bolivians have increased gas exports to Argentina to 14 million cubic meters per day — compared to the previous level of 8 million to 10 million cubic meters per day. The agreement was signed in April and is valid from May to September.

For Argentina, resorting to Bolivian gas was an alternative to the high LNG prices on the international market — a situation exacerbated by the effects of the war in Ukraine.