Bolivian and Argentinean state-owned companies partner to invest in oil exploration

State-owned Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB) partnered on Monday with Argentine oil company YPF to drill the Charagua X-1 well, a project whose potential is above 1 trillion cubic feet (TCF) and which will require an investment of US$50 million in the first stage.

“It is an important milestone because we see new companies entering the country. YPF will carry out its first operation with YPFB, and as sister companies, we are helping as partners in this Charagua X-1 investment so that it develops in the best possible way.”

‘By the end of this year, Charagua X-1 will be drilling,” said YPFB’s executive president, Armin Dorgathen Tapia.

According to the executive, the first phase of the Charagua X-1 exploratory project in the Bolivian department of Santa Cruz (east) is expected to invest US$50 million.

He said that if the well is successful, the investments will be greater to develop the project, aimed at increasing gas reserves.

Dorgathen specified that it is crucial to continue working upstream, which is the exploration and production of gas and liquids.

“We started with a contract signed in the Charagua area with two companies YPF Argentina and our subsidiary YPFB Chaco in search of natural gas reservoirs,” he added.

He explained that the reactivation work that the company is developing captured investment and interest from international companies such as Canacol, YPF, and Vintage, which invest in the country.

“It is important to achieve the rehabilitation of the upstream and look for fields of more than 1 TCF, that is, large fields”, he said.

YPF (Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales S. A.) is an Argentine energy company engaged in the exploration, exploitation, distillation, distribution, and production of electricity, gas, oil, and hydrocarbon derivatives, as well as the sale of fuels, lubricants, fertilizers, plastics and other products related to the industry.

The company has a mixed corporate composition, in which the Argentine State owns 51 percent of the shares, according to YPFB information.

Bolivia currently produces approximately 40 million cubic meters of natural gas per day, of which 17 million are destined for the Brazilian market, 10 million for the Argentine market, and 12.5 million for the domestic market.

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