Spanish oil company Repsol YPF SA (REP) said Thursday that the company plans to invest Euro 400 million over the next five years for a gas development project in Bolivia.
Repsol said that its chairman Antonio Brufau and President of Bolivia, Evo Morales, reached an agreement to develop the Caipipendi block with resources of 3.7 trillion cubic feet of gas. Further, the company said it will raise its gas production in the Caipipendi block sevenfold during the next five years to reach a daily production of 14 million cubic meters by 2013.
The Caipipendi block is located in the south of Bolivia, in the Tarija and Chuquisaca regions. The block includes the Margarita and Huacaya fields, the latter being one of the five largest gas finds made worldwide in 2008. The Margarita field currently produces about 2 million cubic meters of natural gas a day.
Repsol holds a 37.5% operating stake in the twin fields, as does BG Group PLC (BG.L). Argentine company Pan American Energy E&P Bolivia holds the remaining 25% stake in the fields.
In August, Bloomberg had reported that Repsol is pursuing talks to sell a stake in its Argentine unit to China National Petroleum Corp. or CNPC, rather than Cnooc Ltd. CNPC, China's biggest oil company, proposed offering $13 billion-$14.5 billion for a controlling stake in YPF, according to the report.
REP closed Wednesday's regular trading session at $28.36, up $0.38 or 1.36% on a volume of 0.18 million shares.
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