Declining gas giant eyes new role piping Argentine gas to Brazil

Bolivia is offering its pipelines to transport natural gas from Argentina’s Vaca Muerta field to Brazil, potentially bringing in urgently-needed dollars to the crisis-hit Andean nation. 

State energy company Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales Bolivianos, or YPFB, currently transports Bolivian gas to Argentina, but this contract expires in September. President Armin Dorgathen said such a deal would be an important source of foreign currency for both countries. 

“Bolivia is ready, so the decision will depend on the Argentine government,” Dorgathen told reporters on Tuesday. 

Bolivia’s economy was propelled by a natural gas bonanza from 2005 to 2014, but lack of investment in exploration has caused the sector to decline in recent years. In 2022, the country became a net importer of energy for the first time in decades. 

Dorgathen didn’t say how much income Bolivia might receive from such an arrangement with its neighbors. Bolivia is currently experiencing shortages of gasoline and other goods, after the central bank virtually ran out of liquid reserves.