Argentine oil company Pluspetrol plans to start drilling on its Entre Ríos block in Bolivia's Chuquisaca department by the second half of October, a Pluspetrol source confirmed.

The source did not say how much the investment would be in the well or if there are other wells on the field. Pluspetrol is the 100% operator of the block.

The company is preparing a drilling platform near the town of Rosario del Ingre, newspaper Correo del Sur quoted Chuquisaca's hydrocarbons advisor Jorge Bascopé as saying.

The well will be called Rosario del Ingre X-1, and will be drilled to a depth of 1,000 meters to the Ikini gas formation. The decision to drill was made after studying the results of seismic studies, Bascopé said.

"This can bring new hope for the department of Chuquisaca," after Spanish company Repsol YPF recently drilled a well there that failed to find gas, he said.

Repsol YPF spent US$14mn to drill the well to 4,739m. Despite the setback, Repsol YPF still has hopes of reinterpreting seismic studies and finding another drilling location, the paper said.