March 29, 2023, 4:00 AM
March 29, 2023, 4:00 AM
He Government touched the sore to the management of the Former President Juan Evo Morales. The day before, the Minister of Economy and Public Finance, Marcelo Montenegro, responded to the criticism launched by the former head of state, who questioned the economic policy adopted by the administration of the current president, Luis Arce. And he did, remembering the failed results in search of gas, that for years was the support of the state coffers.
Montenegro said that the country is paying the bill investments in failed projects that were insufficient to be able to increase the natural gas reserves.
“With these levels of investment of effective execution, obviously there have not been the revenues that would have been expected in the oil sector and currently the Bolivian economy is paying the bills of not having done that investmentin the aggressive way that I have been pointing out to them ”, he reproached.
What is exposed by the authority finds support in a study of the millennium foundation and official reports compiled from the state-owned Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB).
These documents indicate that between 2006 and 2019, invested $2,685 million in search of natural gas. With these resources in bolivian HE drilled 70 wells to search for natural gas and oil. Of this amount, 35 were negative.
Between the Projects that were disseminated the most by the Morales government are lliquimuni (Peace), Sararenda and Boqueron (Santa Cruz), which were exposed as vital projects for the strengthening of gas reserves.
Only in lliquimuni the investment reached $us 540 million, because I contemplate the construction of access to a jungle area that had no walking connection. Despite the high investment, the results were negative.
Among these projects is also the drilling of the well Boyuy X-2, the well that reached 7,862 meters, being the deepest in the hydrocarbon history of the country and the region.
The then Minister of Hydrocarbons, Luis Alberto Sánchez assured that the country had discovered a sea gas. The investment was $126 million and no commercial flows of gas were found.
The former Minister of Hydrocarbons, Álvaro Ríos, explained that for 10 years there had been warnings of a reduction in gas production product of little exploration.
Now, after the failed results of the past, he points out that the Government should seriously consider a modification in the Hydrocarbons Law in order to attract investment in exploration, given the limit situation of natural gas production.
“Let’s hope that the Minister of Economy can meet with the Minister of Hydrocarbons so that they can see this situation,” he recommended.
The specialist, Raúl Velázquez, explained that since 2005 the hydrocarbon policy in Bolivia was a rentierHe said that since the nationalization (in 2006) the State prioritized the exploitation of the projects that were discovered with the capitalization.
He recalled that, thanks to this measure, between 2000 and 2002 they drilled up to 40 wells per year.
While, from the nationalizationthey have presented 10 projects that did not have the expected results.
