They argue that one of the essential pillars on which the model that enabled the economic policy launched by Evo Morales was based is now being called into question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Armin Dorgathen, president of the state energy company YPFB, attributed what happened to the impact of the war in Ukraine. \u201cClearly, fuel imports rose because of prices and because of the war,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also stated that the situation could be reversed through new exploration projects currently underway and by importing crude oil to be refined in Bolivia, which would make it possible to spend less on gasoline and diesel purchases. However, the analysts consulted remain skeptical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What Is Happening<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Bolivia vive desde hace ya algunos meses importando m\u00e1s gasolina y di\u00e9sel que el gas que exporta, lo que lo ha instalado en un d\u00e9ficit comercial energ\u00e9tico estimado por la consultora Gas Energy Latin America en US$1.100 millones a noviembre del a\u00f1o pasado. La cifra contrasta con el super\u00e1vit de entre US$2.000 y US$4.000 millones de hace diez a\u00f1os.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to data from the National Statistics Institute, in 2022 Bolivia imported fuels and lubricants worth US$4.066 billion, while its exports in the same category amounted to US$3.088 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Los datos reflejan el encarecimiento de los combustibles provocado por la guerra de Ucrania, pero tambi\u00e9n el descenso en la producci\u00f3n de gas de los \u00faltimos a\u00f1os, que cay\u00f3 a los 15,4 millones de metros c\u00fabicos diarios despu\u00e9s de haber superado los 22 millones en 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00c1lvaro R\u00edos, Bolivia\u2019s former Minister of Hydrocarbons, told BBC Mundo that \u201cthe gas business requires investment in exploration in order to have alternative fields available when those already in production are depleted. In Bolivia, there has been almost no investment in exploration, so the fields have gradually been depleted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Economist Jaime Dunn recalls that YPFB\u2019s exploration projects \u201chave been on the table for some time and often remain only on paper.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Economy Minister Marcelo Montenegro revealed last January that former President Morales had been overly optimistic about the country\u2019s gas availability and had been misled by some of his senior officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey told him, \u2018you are sitting on a sea of gas,\u2019 and that was a lie. Today, obviously, we are paying the price for not having explored during those years,\u201d said Montenegro, a minister in the government of current President Luis Arce, with whom Morales has an increasingly tense rivalry for the leadership of the ruling socialist movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Explorar y encontrar nuevos campos de gas requiere tiempo y grandes inversiones, y Bolivia no ha sido en los \u00faltimos a\u00f1os un destino atractivo para las compa\u00f1\u00edas energ\u00e9ticas internacionales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lian Lin, Bolivia analyst at The Economist Intelligence Unit, told BBC Mundo that \u201cit is not easy to attract private investors to Bolivia because there is a great deal of bureaucracy and because of fears of another nationalization like the one in 2006.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n R\u00edos points out that in Bolivia, taxes on foreign companies seeking to exploit natural resources are \u201cconfiscatory,\u201d which discourages investment, and that they were imposed with the sole aim of obtaining the greatest immediate benefit, rather than maintaining future production. The decline in gas production means that Bolivia is benefiting far less than it should from the international context of high energy commodity prices caused by the war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lian Lin explains that \u201cthe natural gas boom made it possible to reduce poverty during the Evo Morales years, but Bolivia has not reformed its policies, and now they appear unsustainable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n With fewer exports, fewer foreign currencies enter the country, and its international reserves have fallen significantly, to the point that the Central Bank announced last week that it would sell dollars directly to individuals amid reports that the currency was beginning to become scarce at bank branches and exchange bureaus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bolivian gas is also seeing its main markets come under threat. Brazil and Argentina, its largest customers, have intensified their search for alternatives and their own domestic production, with initiatives such as the large-scale development of the major gas and crude oil deposits in Vaca Muerta, in Argentine Patagonia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/baranglobal.com.bo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/128952893_jose-luis-quintana.jpg.webp\")
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<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat Consequences Does It Have?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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