Bolivia's YPFB starts drilling new oil and gas exploratory well in Tarija

Bolivia's YPFB started drilling a new exploratory well to test the potential for oil and natural gas in two formations, the company said July 24, in its latest effort to widen exploration and rebuild production after a decade of declines.

The state-owned oil company is drilling the Villamontes-X7 well in Villa Montes in the southeastern department of Tarija to investigate the Chorro and Tupambi formations in a traditional region of production, the company said.

The exploration is "a mandate" of Bolivian President Luis Arce, YPFB President Armin Dorgathen said.

YPFB has been working on 42 exploration projects since 2022 in an effort to turn around a decrease in production that began in 2014. The company has cut exports of hydrocarbons and increased imports of oil and petroleum products.

Oil output tumbled 59% to 21,000 b/d in April from a peak of 51,100 b/d in 2014, while gas output sank 44% to 33.8 million cu m/d from a record-high 60.8 million cu m/d over the same period, according to data from the state statistics institute INE.

The company said the potential resources in Chorro and Tupambi are "promising" and could produce an initial 27 million cubic feet per day.

YPFB has made a number of finds since starting the exploration campaign, with the biggest announced July 15(opens in a new tab) in Mayaya, a field in the undeveloped northwest of the country. The field has an estimated 1.7 Tcf of resources and potential for more discoveries in other structures, making it the biggest gas find in the country since 2005. Mayaya is expected to produce 10 million cu m/d of gas and up to 1,000 b/d of oil, according to YPFB.

Bolivian President Arce called on YPFB on July 23 to speed up the development of Mayaya by drilling three planned wells.

"This is not because of a whim, but it's because the Bolivian people need it, we need to hurry, we need to step on the accelerator," Arce said in a televised broadcast.

Years of little exploration has "condemned us to become slaves to the importation of hydrocarbons," he added. "Fuel is being imported, and that is the worst of the inheritance we have received. We are correcting that."