When acknowledging Gazprom’s huge investments in Bolivia’s energy sector, the Minister of Hydrocarbons and Energy, Luis Sanchez, said the company is also interested in exploring opportunities to work on LNG plants and commercialization of natural gas filling stations.
The Minister’s statements arise from a recent visit to Bolivia by a Russian delegation. Gazprom is a major stakeholder in new energy fields in Bolivia and is exploring prospective areas of oil and gas with State-owned and operated petrol company YPFB Corporation.
The Ministry also indicated interest in the promotion and development on natural gas vehicles and has cited Russian truck and bus manufacturer Kamaz as an example of the natural gas vehicle technology available.
Bolivia continues to encourage the conversion of vehicles to Compressed Natural gas (CNG). From just 37,962 mostly private vehicle conversions in 2005, the Ministry of Hydrocarbons and Energy through the Implementing Entity for Conversion to Natural Gas Vehicles (EEC-GNV) has grown that number to more than 360,000 CNG vehicle conversions through promotion and an incentive program that carries out conversions for free.
(Source: Government of Bolivia)
