YPFB Chaco S.A.

What it is

YPFB Chaco S.A. was founded under Bolivia’s Public Enterprise Capitalisation Law No. 1544 in 1994, and the formal company — then called Chaco S.A.M. — was created on 10 April 1997, after an international tender awarded 50% to Amoco Netherlands Petroleum Company.

The company, formerly known as Empresa Petrolera Chaco S.A., focuses on the exploration, production, distribution, sale and export of hydrocarbons. It holds hydrocarbon fields in Cochabamba, Santa Cruz, Sucre and Tarija, and operates five gas-processing plants: Carrasco, Kanata, Vuelta Grande, Percheles and Santa Rosa.

Beyond its core fields, YPFB Chaco is a partner in Compañía Eléctrica Central Bulo Bulo S.A.—which generates roughly 10% of Bolivia’s electricity—and in Flamagas S.A., an LPG bottling plant in Santa Cruz de la Sierra.

Who owns it

YPFB Chaco S.A. is a subsidiary of YPFB Corporación, Bolivia’s national oil company, which holds 99.3% of the shares. The remaining 0.7% is in public hands and gives the stock its thin listing on the BBV.

By Supreme Decree 29888 of 23 January 2009, Bolivia nationalised the shares held by Amoco Bolivia Oil & Gas, lifting YPFB’s stake to 99.3%—completing a process that began with President Evo Morales’s “Héroes del Chaco” nationalisation decree of May 2006.

Who runs it

Abel Villegas was named Gerente General (chief executive) of YPFB Chaco in late June 2026. He replaced Jerry Fletcher, who was removed after refusing to step down when the new YPFB Corporación president, Sebastián Daroca, requested his resignation.

Daroca, who leads YPFB Corporación, had publicly asked the general managers of both YPFB Chaco and YPFB Andina to place their positions at his disposal as part of a broader restructuring of Bolivia’s state oil group. A January 2026 board meeting also renamed the well-construction division the Drilling Division and merged the Planning and Commercial functions into a single new management unit.

The money, in plain words

YPFB Chaco does not publish a standalone income statement that is freely accessible; its audited subsidiary accounts are filed with the BBV but the PDFs were unavailable to retrieve directly. The most recent confirmed result is a net loss — the company lost BOB 444.1 million (~US$45.1 million at the current rate of BOB 9.85 (US$1)per dollar) in the fiscal year ended 31 March 2022.

That loss was formally acknowledged by the ordinary shareholders’ meeting on 29 June 2022, which voted to record it against prior accumulated retained earnings.

Despite that loss, the company has continued paying dividends from older surpluses. In December 2024 the shareholders’ meeting resolved to pay BOB 5.28 (US$0.54)per share from accumulated results of prior years, disbursed from 31 January 2025 through Banco Unión S.A.

At YPFB Corporación group level, total revenues fell 10.6% in 2024 to US$4,422 million—roughly half the US$8,809 million the group earned in 2014 at peak hydrocarbon prices.

The core driver of the decline is falling gas output. The main factor behind falling revenues is the reduction in natural gas exports, historically the key source of income for the group.

In 2024, Argentina—previously the best-paying market—terminated its gas purchase contract early.

What it is doing now

The immediate focus is on leadership stability: Abel Villegas, a petroleum and natural gas engineer, took over as Gerente General in mid-2026 following the boardroom dispute. The ASFI filing from January 2026 shows a simultaneous internal restructuring, merging planning and commercial functions to sharpen operational focus.

YPFB Chaco directly operates fields covering 144,425 hectares, encompassing one exploration block and 24 exploitation fields, of which 14 are producing, five are in reserve and two are operated as joint ventures. Replenishing depleted reserves through fresh exploration remains the central strategic challenge.

What to watch

• Reserve replacement: Bolivia’s gas output has been falling for a decade; whether Chaco can make a commercial discovery under its new management is the single most important variable for the company’s finances.
• Standalone financials: Full audited results for FY2023 and FY2024 at the subsidiary level have not been made publicly accessible; their publication via the BBV or ASFI would materially improve transparency.
• Parent group stress: Chaco and other subsidiaries have been distributing dividends from past surpluses to allow YPFB, the majority shareholder, to fund fuel imports—a sign of cash pressure at the state level that limits Chaco’s own reinvestment capacity.
• Leadership continuity: The high-profile removal of the previous CEO and the speed of the management reshuffle signal that political direction of the company remains intense under the new YPFB leadership.

This is news, not investment advice.