Ministry seeks hydrocarbons proposals from social groups

Bolivia's government has called on 230 social organizations to give their opinions about modifying the hydrocarbons law, industrializing natural gas, and improving the role of state oil company YPFB, the government news agency quoted hydrocarbons minister Alvaro Rios as saying. "We are opening ourselves up to social sectors that have talked about these three issues, but they haven't really been heard," a ministry spokesperson told BNamericas. Rios has invited the organizations to submit possible alternatives for any or all of the three projects within 45 days, the spokesperson said. Possible uses for natural gas in Bolivia include conversion from gas to liquids, manufacturing petrochemicals, fertilizers, ammonia and urea, and new thermoelectric plants, the ministry said in a statement. The proposals sought by the ministry are not binding, but "if we get 10 excellent proposals for gas industrialization projects that could be done, that will help us with important information to say that these projects are ready for execution, and we can seek financing and the government can approve them," the spokesperson said. "This country has eight million people with opinions on hydrocarbons, and we want to systemize the information, so if the people want us to industrialize gas, we say OK, give us a formal proposal and we will get to work," the spokesperson said. A technical committee will study the responses and choose the best proposals for changes to the hydrocarbons law in order to produce stability and encourage investment, rather than making foreign capital leave the country, the statement said. However, despite an announcement by the senate that the hydrocarbons law will be ready in December, the ministry is in no rush to change the law, the spokesperson said, adding "you can't change the rules overnight, and we are working hard on this, but we have to be patient because it doesn't matter if we wait another one or two months." "If we do it well, we will achieve optimal results for everyone, for the oil companies and the country," the spokesperson said. President Carlos Mesa has promised a national referendum on the gas project, but the referendum will take place after the hydrocarbons law is ready, "It's a logical sequence of events," the spokesperson said.