(Energy Analytics Institute, Ian Silverman and Piero Stewart, 23.Apr.2019) — Bolivia’s production of natural gas reached 36 million cubic meters per day (MMcmd/) in March 2019, one of the lowest levels in the last 10 years, Mauricio Medinaceli, an expert on the subject, wrote in his blog titled “Natural Gas Production In Bolivia: Increasingly Smaller, Increasingly Expensive.”
Bolivia’s gas production has fallen from more than 60 MMcm/d in 2014 to current levels, online media El Diario reported 23 April 2019, citing Medinaceli.
“To maintain reasonable levels of investment with lower levels of production, higher sales prices are necessary,” Medinaceli said. “This is certainly doubtful in coming years, given the growing competitiveness of Vaca Muerta in Argentina and LNG in Brazil.”
In terms of total costs to produce a unit of natural gas in Bolivia, excluding exploration costs, those figures are around $1.53, Medinaceli said. This compares to a domestic sales price of approximately $0.90, he added.
“In other words, producing gas in Bolivia costs $1.53 but the sale price for Bolivians is $0.90. This has a name: subsidy,” Medinaceli said.
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