Bolivia’s executive power has enacted laws finalizing three hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation contracts signed in January by state-owned Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB) and Vintage Petroleum Bolivia Ltd., an Occidental Petroleum Corp. subsidiary, valued at $504.5 million.
Laws 1540, 1541, and 1542, decreed on Nov. 10 and published in the official gazette, validate projects in Tarija, Chuquisaca, and Santa Cruz regions in southern and eastern Bolivia.
Law 1540 pertains to the first contract signed this year between YPFB and Vintage for work in the Sayurenda area in Tarija. The project, through an estimated investment of $57.4 million, targets reserves of 35.5 bcf of natural gas and 2.8 million bbl of oil.
Law 1541 formalizes the contract signed for the Yuarenda area in Tarija. The companies are targeting 171.3 bcf of natural gas and 12.8 million bbl of oil through an investment of $252 million.
Law 1542 is a petroleum project in the Caraidanti area in Chuquisaca, Tarija, and Santa Cruz. The contract estimates Vintage will invest $194 million to recover estimated reserves of 163.1 bcf of natural gas and 10.9 million bbl of oil.
According to the Ministry of Hydrocarbons and Energy, Bolivia could realize total oil income of $1.514 billion if all three projects succeed.
