Bolivia Discovers Mega Field

Bolivia President Luis Alberto Arce Catacora said the country’s government has discovered a “mega field” in a statement posted on his X page, which was translated from Spanish.

“Years ago, $500 million was spent exploring the north of La Paz and absolutely nothing was found,” Catacora said in the translated statement.

“Today, with nearly $50 million of investment, our government has discovered a mega field in the north of La Paz, the third best producing field in the entire country,” he added.

“We are referring to the Mayaya Centro X1 Field, whose drilling began on November 25, 2022, as part of the Upstream Reactivation Plan executed by YPFB. According to formation tests, the well has confirmed the presence of gaseous and liquid HCB in the middle and lower Copacabana and Tomachi formations,” he continued.

Catacora outlined in the translated statement that 1.7 trillion cubic feet of potential reserves were confirmed at the find and labelled it “the most important discovery since 2005”.

“Without a doubt, with this discovery La Paz enters a totally different dimension, because we will have royalties as a producing department,” Catacora noted in the translated statement.

“This well marks the beginning of a new chapter for the northern sub-Andean region, offering hope of maintaining our country as an important gas exporter, promoting a second era of hydrocarbon production, and placing La Paz as a hydrocarbon producing department,” he added.

A Bolivia guide on the U.S. International Trade Administration website, which was last updated on June 5, states that, according to the latest international evaluation of potential gas reserves in 2017, Bolivia possesses approximately 12.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves, both proven and estimated. 

Of this amount, 10.7 Tcf are proven reserves, the site notes, adding that Bolivia has more than 240.95 million barrels of proven crude oil reserves. The government estimates another 47.8 million barrels of probable reserves and another 78.4 million barrels of possible reserves, the site says.

“In the hydrocarbons sector, Bolivia currently produces an average of 36 million cubic meters of gas per day (MMcmpd), using 12 MMcmpd for domestic consumption, while exporting 15.0 MMcmpd to Brazil and 8 MMcmpd to Argentina,” the site states.

“Hydrocarbons accounted for approximately 22 percent of Bolivia’s exports, or $2.9 billion, in 2022. The state-owned hydrocarbons company, Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB), generally forms joint ventures (55-45 percent sharing, with the state owning the majority share) for a limited period of 40 years with private companies for extraction services,” it adds.

“YPFB administers a gas sales agreement with Brazil’s state-owned oil company Petrobras and another agreement with Argentina. Current hydrocarbons laws require that companies sell all production to YPFB, and that domestic market demand be met before exporting hydrocarbons,” it continues.

“Furthermore, these laws transfer the entire transport and sales chain over to state control. Although the state holds a majority share in the hydrocarbons sector, the government has issued incentives and exemptions to encourage investment due to the lack of investment (especially in exploration) and a reduction in the levels of proven reserves,” the site goes on to state.

According to the Energy Institute’s (EI) 2024 statistical review of world energy, Bolivia produced 11.9 billion cubic meters of gas last year. This figure marked a 12.9 percent year on year decrease and 0.3 percent of global gas production in 2023, the review showed. From 2013 to 2023, Bolivia’s gas production has decreased by a yearly average of 4.8 percent, the review outlined.

The EI review’s gas production figures exclude gas flared or recycled and include natural gas produced for gas to liquids transformation.

In an exploration segment on its website, which was translated from Spanish, YPFB notes that, in July 2021, it announced the launch of the Upstream Reactivation Plan, “with the aim of investing in the exploration and exploitation of gas and oil in the country”.

“According to the state oil company, the PRU currently includes 30 local exploration opportunities, of which 26 are for gas and four for oil, in addition to regional exploration opportunities,” the segment states.

“It also includes three development opportunities for reactivation of mature fields, which are scheduled to begin production in 2022,” it adds.

To contact the author, email andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com