Russ Oil-Gas

BUENOS AIRES, March 18 (RIA Novosti) - Bolivia hopes to meet its supply commitments to neighboring countries now that a natural gas prospecting deal has been signed with Russia's Gazprom, Argentina's Telam news agency said on Tuesday. Under the agreement signed in La Paz on Monday, exploration will be carried out at the Sunchal natural gas field in the south of the country. Bolivia has the second largest gas reserves in South America after Venezuela, with proven reserves of 680 billion cubic meters. "The agreement signed by Russia's Gazprom and the Bolivian state energy company YPFB will allow an increase in deliveries to neighboring countries, primarily Argentina and Brazil," Telam quoted Bolivian President Evo Morales as saying. Brazil currently requires between 27 and 30 million cubic meters of gas daily, while Argentina, which under contracts signed with Bolivia should receive 7.7 million cu m, receives some 3 million cu m of Bolivian gas a day. Experts had earlier expressed doubts that Bolivia would be able to comply with its contract commitments to its neighbors and simultaneously meet the growing domestic demand without new oil and gas deposits being commissioned. The Gazprom contract, signed by YPFB President Santos Ramirez and the Gazprom representative for Latin America, Stanislav Tsygankov, is a follow up to memorandum of understanding that the companies signed in February 2007 for prospecting and infrastructure projects as well as the training of staff. While working to boost its presence in Europe, Gazprom is also increasingly looking to South American markets. The focus is on cooperation talks with Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela, who jointly plan to build a transcontinental pipeline which will also cross Bolivia.