Bolivia attracts around USD 1 billion in foreign investment in the first six months of the year

According to the bank, this is 1.3% less than for the same period of the previous year, when USD 863 million was invested in the country's economy.

However, the bank also notes that investments in the fuel and energy sector in the first six months grew to USD 765 million, against USD 652 in 2013.

Gross foreign investments in Bolivia from January to June 2014 exceeded USD 1 billion. The report also states that between 2006 and 2014 the average inflow of direct foreign investment was maintained at the level of 1.5% of GDP, which at the end of last year amounted to over USD 30 billion.

The Central Bank named foreign companies such as Repsol E&P Bolivia, Petrobras Bolivia, Total E&P Bolivia, PlusPetrol, BG Bolivia, Petrobras Argentina, Vintage Petroleum, GTLI, Canadian Energy and Matpetrol among the major investors in the country's economy.

According to Central Bank data, investments were directed mainly at large investment projects in the mining sector such as San Cristobal, Manquiri and San Vicente, as well as at the development of the San Alberto and San Antonio hydrocarbon fields.

Bolivia's state oil and gas company Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB) also announced that it had earmarked around USD 3 billion for exploration projects this year. According to the head of YPFB Carlos Villegas, the second stage of geological exploration could see these investments reaching as much as USD 6 billion.

International experts have estimated that Bolivia's proven reserves of natural gas, as at the end of 2013, amounted to 10.5 trillion cubic feet (296 billion m³), with oil and condensate reserves comprising 211.4 million barrels (28 million tonnes). Bolivia plans to increase its natural gas reserves to 18 trillion cubic feet (514 billion m³), and its oil reserves to 500 million barrels (71 million tonnes) by 2025.

Bolivia extracts over 20 billion m³ of natural gas annually. In the last decade, the country has more than doubled its hydrocarbon production, making it the fourth largest producer in Latin America. A large part of its output is exported to Brazil and Argentina.

In April of this year, Bolivia's Legislative Assembly passed a law to encourage investments.

The collaboration between Gazprom and YPFB is based on a Memorandum of Understanding signed by the companies in 2007. Under this document, the partners are to develop cooperation in the exploration and development of hydrocarbon deposits in Bolivia and study ways of participating in infrastructure projects.

Gazprom International, the sole specialised operator of Gazprom's foreign oil and gas prospecting and exploration projects, has been named the operator of projects in Bolivia. Gazprom International is currently conducting geological exploration projects here in the Ipati, Aquio and Azero licence blocks.