Russia increases fuel, diesel supply to Bolivia amid rising energy crisis
Russia is increasing exports of motor fuels to Bolivia, according to data from LSEG vessel tracking and industry sources, as an energy crisis worsens in the Latin American country and Moscow needs to expand sales hit by Western sanctions.
According to the shipping data, at least four tankers were loaded between December and March at the Russian ports of Vysotsk, Primorsk and Taman, including some 190,000 tonnes (t) of diesel, signaling a Chilean port as the point of discharge.
The cargoes are destined for landlocked Bolivia, which relies on other countries' ports for its seaborne imports, market sources said.
Bolivia's state-owned energy firm YPFB, which controls energy imports and exports, said on Thursday the company expected to receive a total of five diesel and gasoline cargoes by April 4, including three imported from Houston, Texas (U.S.), but did not elaborate on the countries of origin of the other two.
Last year, Russia sent Bolivia around 105,000 t of low-sulfur diesel, according to the shipping data, to help to tackle a fuel shortage.
Bolivia has been heavily dependent on foreign fuel supplies as local production only accounts for around 15% of diesel demand, and 30% for gasoline.
In Bolivia's farm region of Santa Cruz, a worsening fuel shortage is starting to hit farmers' ability to harvest their crops, a concern for the embattled South American country where agriculture has become a key economic driver.
In March, Bolivia's energy ministry announced a set of incentives to import gasoline and diesel, in a bid to promote the country's private market and overcome an extended fuel shortage.
Authorized periods for fuel imports and marketing activities will be extended from one year to three years, while tariff duty on imported gasoline will be cut to zero, the statement added.
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