Evo supporters target Bolivian gas installations

Supporters of Bolivia's former president Evo Morales are targeting the country's vital natural gas operations in a challenge to the fledgling interim presidency of Jeanine Anez.

Morales fled Bolivia for asylum in Mexico after resigning on 10 November, leaving behind a power vacuum. That was filled late yesterday by Anez, but without the required legislative quorum as a result of a decision by the ruling Movement toward Socialism party (MAS) to boycott the process.

Anez, a senator from the center-right Democratic Unity party, was fifth in line for the presidency, but took over after the direct chain of succession evaporated in a wave of MAS resignations. In her first declarations today, Anez stressed that her only mandate is peaceful political transition. Elections could be held as early as January.

Among her immediate challenges is quelling pockets of unrest, rebuilding the depleted executive branch, and keeping gas production and exports to Brazil and Argentina on track.Gas exports, the landlocked country's top revenue earner, have been falling in response to lower production and reduced demand in shale-rich Argentina and pre-salt star Brazil.

Combined pipeline gas exports to Brazil and Argentina averaged around 31mn m³/d in the first nine months of 2019, compared to 45.5mn m³/d in the same period last year, according to the Bolivian foreign trade institute.

Bolivia's state-owned YPFB said today that the Carrasco-Cochabamba gas pipeline shut down following a pressure drop that affected supply to Cochabamba, Oruro and La Paz. The company could not reach the affected area between the Villa Tunari and Lima Tambo valves to make repairs because of roadblocks.

YPFB on 11 November informed its Argentinian counterpart IEASA that its Carrasco field and installations had been taken over by protesters and it might have to suspend exports. IEASA reported that gas dispatches were still normal as of 12 November, averaging 11mn m³/d.

Brazilian state-controlled Petrobras confirmed that it received a similar warning from YPFB on 11 November about possible fluctuations in gas supply, but added that there are currently no disruptions.

Inside YPFB, workers are demanding the resignation of president Oscar Barriga and other senior management appointed by Morales during his 13-year presidency.

Foreign oil companies that operate in Bolivia, including Repsol, Total, Shell and Gazprom, have told Argus that their operations have not been affected. Despite his resource nationalist platform and alliance with Venezuela's disputed president Nicolas Maduro, Morales provided a relatively stable working environment for the oil and gas industry.

From his new base in Mexico, Morales is offering to return to "pacify" Bolivia. He and his supporters in the region, including Venezuela, Cuba and Mexico, claim that he was the victim of a coup. Argentina notably has kept a distance as pro-business president Mauricio Macri prepares to hand over power to Alberto Fernandez, a Morales ally. Farther afield, the US and the UK have recognized Anez and urged free and fair elections.

By Lucien Chauvin and Patricia Garip