The announcement comes as Bolivia agreed to quadruple natural gas exports to Argentina by 2021 under a gas sales and purchase agreement signed between YPFB and ENARSA on 26 March 2010.
The agreement, which will see a exports rise gradually from 7.7 MMcm/d to 27.7 MMcm/d in 2021, was signed by YPFB President Carlos Villegas and ENARSA President Exequiel Espinosa in the Southern Bolivian city of Sucre.
The agreement also prioritises the construction and commissioning of the Azurduy Juana de Padilla integration pipeline and will be valid as of 1 May 2010.
In Bolivia, the Azurduy Juana pipeline will run 24 km from the pipeline interconnection point at Campo Grande to Madrejones on the Argentinean border and have a diameter of 32 inches. With an estimated construction cost of $US43 million, the pipeline is expected to be completed in May 2011.
In Argentina, 32 km of 30 inch diameter pipeline will be laid to meet the interconnection point at Campo Duran. The investment required to complete this work is estimated at $US55 million.
