Saturday
December 12,2009
LA PAZ – U.S.-based Ryder Scott Company has been awarded a contract to certify and quantify Bolivia’s large reserves of natural gas and smaller ones of oil, the president of state-owned Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales Bolivianos said.
Carlos Villegas told a press conference that YPFB will pay the firm $3.9 million for the work, the final results of which will be presented in August 2010.
He said the contract between the Bolivian government and Ryder Scott will be signed on Dec. 21 in La Paz.
According to Villegas, YPFB – by certifying and quantifying its reserves – will be better able to monitor the development plans of the energy firms operating in Bolivia.
“Another important element is that we’ll have certainty (regarding) the delivery of production to foreign markets,” he added.
Bolivia’s reserve estimates still are based on a 2005 report by U.S.-based DeGolyer & MacNaughton, which found the country had a total of 48.7 trillion cubic feet of proven and probable reserves of natural gas, including 26.7 trillion cubic feet of proven reserves.
Based on that report, Bolivia’s natural gas reserves are the second most in South America after Venezuela, which has an estimated 150 trillion cubic feet of that fossil fuel.
In mid-2006, the Bolivian government terminated its contract with DeGolyer & MacNaughton, accusing the company of manipulating its results for political purposes after it said in a report that year that the country’s proven gas reserves had fallen from 26.7 trillion cubic feet to 18 trillion cubic feet.
The government said the U.S. company was trying to undermine socialist President Evo Morales’ move to nationalize the energy sector via a May 1, 2006, decree.
After rejecting the consulting firm’s report, YPFB sought to hire another company to certify its reserves but the different processes failed due to a lack of firms interested in tendering bids.
Finally, the state-owned firm last month directly invited 17 international companies to present their proposals for certifying and quantifying the reserves at all of Bolivia’s natural gas and oil fields.
Of the 17 firms that were invited, two presented proposals and YPFB eventually opted for the plan submitted by Ryder Scott.
Villegas said Wednesday that that Houston-based company has done similar work for state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela SA, Spain’s Repsol YPF, Colombia’s Ecopetrol and Exxon Mobil Corp., among other firms.
“This is a sign of companies’ confidence in the Bolivian process and in YPFB because after many years the state-owned firm is going to certify and quantify (the country’s) reserves,” he said. EFE
Source: http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=348831&CategoryId=14919
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