Bolivia is to start delivering increased volumes of natural gas to Argentina though a new pipeline starting at the end of this month, the state company YPFB said June 21. The newly built Integration Gasduct Juana Azurduy (GIJA) will augment two older pipelines, connecting to a Northeastern Pipeline currently under construction in Argentina. Built by the Kaiser–Petrosur consortiumat a cost of $32 million, the GIJA will have a capacity of 27.7 million cubic feet per day, making Argentina a close second to Brazil as an importer of Bolivian natural gas. (El Diario, La Paz, June 27; La Prensa, La Paz, June 22; Platts, June 21; Platts, Feb. 28)

Bolivia last year signed a new pipeline deal with Uruguay, and has also broached an ambitious "Trans-Andean Pipeline" plan with Venezuela. Bolivia's pipeline network is still mired in litigation following its nationalization from private companies following the 2005 election of President Evo Morales.

See our last posts on Bolivia, the global struggle for control of hydrocarbons, and Latin America's alternative integration.

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