South America: Bolivia

SOUTH AMERICA

Stuart Wilkinson, Contributing Editor

Bolivia

In September 2000, Bolivian president Hugo Banzer postponed his visit to Tokyo, due to domestic protests. Banzer said he would not resign from office and would stay until August 2002, the end of his term.

Inflation during 2000 was 3.41%, much lower than expected. Foreign investment in Bolivia is expected to reach $1.1 billion by year-end, a 50% increase from last year. Some 70% of foreign investment is in the hydrocarbons sector.

Exploration. Last October, Pan Andean Resources completed the final well in its Monteagudo drilling program, but it was not commercial. The company then focused on its next prospect, the El Dorado well.

TotalFinaElf discovered gas in the Tarija West region. The company said its Itau X2 well on Tarija West Block XX tested 35.3 MMcfgd and 350 bcpd. It penetrated the deep Santa Rosa formation, which had not been drilled by the 1999 Itau X1 discovery. Itau X1 targeted the Huamampampa reservoir and tested 28.3 MMcfgd and 600 bcpd. ExxonMobil holds a 34% stake in Block XX and BG Bolivia has 25%.

State firm YPFB reported that 1,527 km (949 mi) of 2-D seismic and 2,240 sq km (865 sq mi) of 3-D seismic will be shot this year.

Development. Gas deliveries to Brazil are expected to reach 1.06 Bcfd by 2004, while gas exports to Argentina will rise to 88 MMcfd. TotalFinaElf and Repsol-YPF are exploring possible projects that would allow transport of NGLs to the U.S. Plans are preliminary, but include a trans-Andean pipeline to the Chilean coast. From there, the gas would then be shipped to Rosarito in Baja California and be delivered via pipeline to San Diego.

Production. Petrobrás Bolivia (operator, 35%) said that certified reserves at its two large gas fields (San Alberto and San Antonio) rose to 16.315 Tcf, mostly due to deeper wells at San Alberto field. By 2004, when both fields will be fully operative, San Alberto and San Antonio fields should produce 770 MMcfgd, a hefty increase from the current 70 MMcfgd.

The government reported average gas output at 615 MMcfd in 2000, 27% more than in 1999. Proved and probable gas reserves were 28.8 Tcf, up 30% from 1999.