Bolivia Gas Industry Losing Clients, Former President Says

Bolivia, which holds South America’s second-largest natural-gas reserves, has seen reduced gas output and investments since the government took greater control of its energy assets, former President Jorge Quiroga said.

Since President Evo Morales’s government raised taxes and forced companies to renegotiate energy contracts three years ago, it has stifled investments, said Quiroga, who held office from 2001 to 2002 and leads the Andean country’s largest opposition party.
“There are great announcements, but we do not have any new investments,” Quiroga, 49, said yesterday in an interview in Lima. “Bolivia is viewed as an unreliable supplier.”

Brazil’s Petroleo Brasileiro SA cut its Bolivian gas investment, and the U.S.’s Duke Energy Corp. and Cayman Islands- based AEI pulled out of the country after Morales seized oil and gas fields and refineries in 2006. Bolivia, South America’s poorest nation, relies on gas for half its export income.

Brazil, Bolivia’s largest gas buyer, has cut gas purchases to 21.1 million cubic meters a day from 24 million cubic meters, state oil company YPF Bolivianos has said. Brazil is increasing its own gas output to reduce dependence on Bolivia, according to Brazil’s energy research agency.

Bloomberg