The shale gas revolution that many say is reviving North America’s petrochemical industry – see Plasteurope.com of 11.07.2011 – clearly has piqued the interest of other countries and players as well. The latest media reports indicate that Bolivia which reportedly boasts Latin America´s second largest natural gas reserves, after Venezuela – could become a new mecca for gas exploration, and the country’s state-owned oil group Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB, La Paz / Bolivia; www.ypfb.gob.bo) reportedly expects private companies to invest more than USD 1 bn for natural gas and hydrocarbon exploration in 2012. Between 2009 and 2015, Bolivia hopes to attract some USD 10.7 bn in both public and private sector investment in its petrochemical sector, the reports indicate.

After nationalising its oil and gas industry in 2006, the Latin American country is now handing out numerous contracts for exploration. The proviso: Once a company strikes gas, it then forms a joint venture that is majority-owned by YPFB. According to the Bolivian oil group, this type of arrangement still allows the foreign player to recoup its investment costs within five to ten years.

According to Platts news service, the gas revival has prompted YPFB to call for bidding for a contract to develop a study for a new USD 2.3 bn ethylene and polyethylene plant in the country. The facility will most likely be located in Tarija, near the country’s southern border to Argentina. Platts says the 600,000 t/y PE plant, which is to be fed by a new separation plant currently being built in Rio Grande, Santa Cruz, could be on stream as early as 2014.