Bolivia signed a deal last month worth $17 billion that is set to triple its sale of natural gas to Argentina. Under a new contract, Bolivia will increase exports to Argentina from the current maximum of 7.7 million cubic metres a day to 27.7 million cubic metres a day over a 20-year period beginning in 2010.
“We have the reserves, but we need investments,” said the Bolivian President Evo Morales in a speech at the signing of the deal in Santa Cruz. Morales said the agreement was a key step toward greater regional economic integration among South American countries.