State-owned Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales Bolivianos Refinación SA (YPFB) has started test runs at a newly built crude unit at the 28,000-b/d Gualberto Villarroel refinery at Cochabamba, Bolivia.
Bolivian President Evo Morales initialized operations at the 12,500-b/d unit, the refinery’s second, on Sept. 12, according to separate releases from YPFB and the office of the Bolivian president.
At a cost of $93.6 million, the unit will provide Bolivia’s domestic market with an additional 20 million l./month (4,000 b/d) of diesel, slashing the country’s need for diesel imports by $198 million annually, YPFB and Morales said.
While no specific timeframe was disclosed as to when Cochabamba’s crude unit would reach full operations, YPFB and the Bolivian government did announce the start of construction on two additional new units at Bolivia’s two refineries.
At the Cochabamba refinery, YPFB is building a new catalytic reforming unit, while at the 24, 350-b/d Guillermo Elder Bell refinery in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, the company has started work on a new isomerization unit.
The two new units, which represent a combined investment of $204.5 million, are scheduled to be commissioned during fourth-quarter 2015 and will boost Bolivia’s gasoline production by about 40 million l./month (8,000 b/d), according to YPFB and Morales.
The Bolivian government took ownership of both refineries from Petroleo Brasileiro SA following the nationalization of the country’s oil and gas industry, a process which began in 2006 (OGJ Online, May 11, 2007; Nov. 2, 2006; Sept. 22, 2006).
