Home : In the Amazon : Bolivia : The Expansion of Bolivia's Gas Pipeline Network
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Bolivia
The Expansion of Bolivia's Gas Pipeline Network
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Part 1: Introduction Bolivia's gas transportation network is undergoing rapid expansion with plans to link to markets in Brazil, Argentina, Chile and the U.S. and Mexico after recent discoveries of huge gas fields. The recent finds placed Bolivia in second place in terms of the continent's gas reserves. In the last four years, Bolivian gas reserves have leapt up to 52.3 trillion cubic feet from 5.6 trillion cubic feet. To export an estimated 75 percent of this gas, plans are underway to expand the gas pipeline system through the heart of Bolivia's globally renowned dry tropical forests, pantanal wetlands, and indigenous peoples territories.
The scramble for profits from Bolivia's gas bonanza is driving the gas industry to embark on unfeasible expansion projects with little thought for the forest communities who will bear the social and environmental costs. In their fight for market domination, energy giants such as Brazil's Petrobras are passing over opposition from indigenous and small-scale farming communities living in the path of gas development.
In their desperation to find buyers for this glut of gas, companies are attempting to force open energy markets. Following the Brazilian energy crisis, the Bolivian government has aggressively marketed gas in Brazil, where plans for numerous new gas power plants were expected to boost demand. However, in the rush for profit, companies appear to be overestimating Brazil's ability to expand its domestic gas supply network quickly enough to absorb vast gas imports from Bolivia and overlooking weakening resolve to convert to a gas-fueled power generation system. Moreover, Brazil has its own plans to increase domestic gas production and massively expand hydroelectric output, which would also reduce demand for gas imports.
Bolivian gas could be exported to West Coast markets in the United States. Ambitious plans are in progress to ship gas to Baja California in northern Mexico and then on through new pipelines to California. However, Peru is also eyeing the Californian energy market as a recipient of its own huge Amazon gas reserves and Royal Dutch/Shell is planning to receive Asian gas at a new terminal in Baja California for export northwards. Given the risk of market saturation, the race to export Bolivian gas seems ill-advised.
Although buyers for Bolivia's gas are in short supply, Bolivia's forest communities and ecosystems are already paying the ecological and social price of the new pipeline projects detailed below. Eventually, the consequences of massive gas expansion will also be felt in the United States. Excess gas could flood the California market with cheap energy and jeopardize California's transition to renewable energy sources for generations.
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Press Releases
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Oct 17, 2003 -- Sucesion Presidencial y Asamblea Nacional Constituyente...
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Nov 15, 2002 -- Environmentalists Criticize Bolivian President’s DC Visit to Help
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Updates
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Oct 16, 2003 -- Corruption has bled democracy ...
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Jul 12, 2002 -- Letter to the IDB...
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News Clips
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Dec 12, 2002 -- Environment-Bolivia: Bank Clears Enron-Linked Yabog Gas Pipeline
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Dec 12, 2002 -- IADB Approves Loan for Bolivian Pipeline ...
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