BUENOS AIRES: Argentine and Bolivian energy officials are to meet in Tarija, Bolivia, to discuss the bilateral trade of electricity and natural gas supplies, Argentine Planning Minister Julio De Vido said.
De Vido, the chief energy strategist for Argentina, said his government’s team arrived Monday for the talks, in which Bolivian President Evo Morales is to participate.
The teams will also discuss working together on nuclear power, including building a reactor in Bolivia, according to a statement by De Vido’s ministry.
Luis Sanchez Fernandez, Bolivia’s minister of hydrocarbons and energy, said in the same statement that the meeting would advance “energy integration and technological cooperation.”
Argentina is one of the two export markets for Bolivian gas, along with Brazil.
Argentina wants to ramp up gas imports from Bolivia to 27.7 million cu m/d in 2017, helping to meet demand after 20% decline in production between 2004 and 2014.
While Argentina’s production has started to recover with the exploitation of its huge shale resources, analysts say imports will be needed for years to come to meet a steady rise in demand. Argentina imported 37.5 million cu m/d of gas in August, of which 15.9 million cu m/d came from Bolivia and 21.5 million cu m/d off the global market as LNG.
For its part, Bolivia is seeking to become an energy hub for supplying neighboring countries, and it needs to increase exports as well as domestic consumption so that producers can step up production. Bolivia is looking to also sell gas to Paraguay and Uruguay.
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