Estimated potential of the Azero area in in southern Bolivia

Июня 08, 2015

The potential for the hydrocarbon-bearing Azero area, the project that Gazprom International is participating in alongside the Bolivian division of the French oil and gas corporation Total, Total E&P Bolivie, is estimated at 5 trillion cubic feet (more than 140 million cubic metres) of natural gas.

Luis Carlos Sanchez, the vice president of contracts, administration, and control at the Bolivian state-owned gas and oil company Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB) announced this during the Chuquisaca Energy Forum 2015 – 2025 in the capital of Bolivia, Sucre.

According to him, Gazprom International and Total will invest 130 million USD during the first stage of area exploration, which will include conducting magnetotelluric and gravity surveys and the construction of two exploratory wells with a depth of up to five thousand metres.

The geological interest in this sector is the Huamampampa formation, where, according to the predictions of YPFB specialists, there must be a concentration of major hydrocarbon reserves. In response to this, Luis Carlos Sanchez stated exploratory drilling at Azero is planned for 2017.

Earlier, in an interview with the corporate magazine Gazprom, Bolivia's Hydrocarbons and Energy Minister Luis Alberto Sanchez stated that the volume of investments agreed to by the project partners for early 2015 is about 7 million USD.

The Azero area is located in the country’s central pre-Andean oil-and-gas bearing basin within the boundaries of several provinces of the Chuquisaca Department. A part of the area extends to the Cordillera Province of the Santa Cruz Department. The Azero, with a territory of 7,856 square kilometres, is the largest of the promising licensed blocks.

The project, now in the exploration works stage, is being implemented by a consortium consisting of Gazprom International and Total E&P Bolivie (operator), who have equal shares. If commercial reserves are found, further development of the area is planned to take place within a joint enterprise according to the following share structure: YPFB – 55%, Gazprom International and Total E&P Bolivie – 22.5% each. The corresponding agreements were established in a contract signed in August 2013 and ratified by the Bolivian authorities last year.

Gazprom cooperates with YPFB under the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the companies in 2007. Gazprom International, the corporate group’s unified specialized company for implementing international upstream projects, represents Gazprom’s interests in Bolivian projects.

Along with the Azero area, Gazprom International is developing the Incahuasi field, located within the limits of the Ipati and Aquio areas in southern Bolivia, jointly with its project partners, the companies Total E&P Bolivie and Tecpetrol de Bolivia S.A. (Argentina).

Bolivia is the third country in South America by production of hydrocarbons. It produces over 20 billion cubic metres of natural gas annually. Its proven gas reserves are estimated at 10.5 trillion cubic feet (296 billion cubic meters), and oil and condensate – at 211.4 million barrels (28 million tons).