Bolivian national oil and gas company YPFB has renewed a gas supply contract with Brazil's state-owned oil and gas group Petrobras. As part of the deal, YPFB will supply Brazil between 14 and 20 mcm/d of gas until 2026. Under the previous contract, Bolivia was exporting to Brazil between 24 and 30 mcm/d. The agreement is the eighth extension of a previous contract signed in 1999. It expired at the end of 2019 but was extended for 3 months due to political turmoil in Bolivia. According to the Bolivian government, the new contract will generate US$4-6bn in export revenue for the country.
In January 2020, the Brazilian Ministry of Energy allowed YPFB to use the Gasbol gas pipeline connecting Bolivia and Brazil to sell gas to companies in Brazil, in an attempt to foster competition on the gas market and to reduce prices. YPFB will deliver 1.2 mcm/d (around 440 mcm/year) of gas to the state of Mato Grosso do Sul in 2020, with gas export volumes rising to 2.6 mcm/d (around 950 mcm/year) in 2021 and 3.6 mcm/d (1.3 bcm/year) as of 2022. Petrobras was the sole user of the 3,150 km pipeline until the expiration of the previous gas supply contract at the end of 2019.