Bolivian gas export volume to Argentina grows 19.10% in the first quarter of 2021

This YPFB release was published using machine translation.

La Paz, April 29 (AN-YPFB) .- The export of Bolivian gas to Argentina grew by 19.10% during the first quarter of 2021 compared to the same period in 2020, according to official information from Yacimientos Petrolifos Fiscales Bolivianos ( YPFB).

“The increase in the volume of gas is due to the fact that YPFB responds to the demand of its markets and seeks to reactivate the Bolivian economy beyond the external factors that it cannot control, such as the pandemic that depresses world economies or the commercialization prices of contracts that are subject to the international price for this hydrocarbon, ”said Evelio Harb, YPFB's Natural Gas Export Contract Manager.

According to figures from the state oil company, the volume of the first quarter of 2020 reached 1,170 million cubic meters (MMm3) at 60 ° F, while in the same period of 2021 they amounted to 1,394 MM of m3 at 60 ° F, which shows a growth rate of 19.10%.

Brazil is another market for Bolivian gas and exports to the first quarter of this management also had an increase of 1.7%, compared to the same period in 2020.

“The drop in prices at the international level has been counteracted with a greater export since in this way the income for the country is ensured. That is what we seek in YPFB, as the most important company in the generation of economic income in Bolivia, "said the executive of the state company.

In relation to the prices of natural gas exports to Argentina, the price of fuels (fuels) defined in a contract from the last semester is considered. In other words, the prices for 2020 are calculated with respect to the behavior of the international market in 2019 and those of 2021 with respect to 2020. The same thing happens with Brazil, but with a lag of three months ”.

The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) is used as the main reference in the world market to define the price of oil. The fuels, which are part of the determination of contract prices, are correlated to this variable.

“The entire past year has been a recessionary period, in which WTI (West Texas Intermediate) prices have dropped. Prices in 2020 were good prices due to the behavior of the international oil market during 2019. But in 2021, we have the hangover of 2020, a year marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, which unleashed a global economic crisis that affected prices because there were restrictions on the use of vehicles and flights, hitting fuel consumption, and it is those billings that are reflected in this quarter of 2021 ”.