Double-digit dip in Bolivian hydrocarbons output

Production of crude oil and natural gas in Bolivia experienced a double-digit drop in the first quarter.

The latest numbers from the country’s statistics institute reveal that oil and gas output slid 14% and 13%, respectively, to 1.97Mb (million barrels) and 3.07Bm3 (billion cubic meters) compared with January-March 2023.

Authorities have attributed falling production to under investment in exploration and as of late, have increasingly acknowledged the need to update the regulatory framework, the law for which was approved in 2005.

“That law is obsolete, it is a law that does not serve the interests of the country and that even generates a cross to bear in the approval of the different projects,” hydrocarbons and energies minister Franklin Molina said recently.

The necessary incentives do not exist for companies to invest more in exploration, according to Molina, who also has pointed to the drawn-out process to sign contracts and approve projects.

Last month, the minister announced that a draft bill would be presented to lawmakers to promote exploration and production.

Despite an easing of an orthodox statist policy, other factors, such as growing gas production in neighboring Argentina and Brazil - Bolivia’s principal gas export markets - has raised sector uncertainty.

For his part, Armin Dorgathen, head of state hydrocarbons company YPFB, has stepped up public engagement to showcase what is touted as renewed impetus for the operator’s upstream reactivation plan.

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