YPFB maps out bold gas spending strategy in Bolivia

Significance

These will include investment in exploration and exploitation in environmentally sensitive national parks. Export agreements to Brazil and Argentina, plus increased domestic demand, have raised doubts as to Bolivia's ability to keep supplying gas to the market beyond the 2020s.

Impacts

• Fiscal dependence on gas production makes new discoveries an urgent imperative.
• Developing gas in protected areas is likely to generate serious political antagonism.
• Pre-salt gas in Brazil and unconventional reserves in Argentina, once exploited, may limit demand for Bolivian gas.