Brazil's Petrobras has signed a short-term contract with Bolivian counterpart YPFB to increase natural gas imports from the Andean nation, Petrobras said.
Under terms of the contract, Petrobras will import an additional 2.24 million cubic meters/day of natural gas from Bolivia through August 30, the company said in a statement late Wednesday.
The natural gas will be supplied through the Bolivia-Mato Grosso Gas Pipeline.
Petrobras currently imports 30 million cu m/d of gas from its western neighbor. That volume of natural gas is shipped to Brazil via the Bolivia-Brazil Gas Pipeline, or Gasbol.
The additional natural gas will be used to fuel a gas-fired power plant at Cuiaba in Mato Grosso state. The plant has been idled since March 27, when a previous natural gas supply contract ended, Petrobras said.
"As a result of this contract, the Cuiaba power plant can resume operating and generating power for the state of Mato Grosso and the Brazilian national grid," Petrobras said.
Brazil needs the electricity generated by the 480 MW-capacity plant because a severe drought has dropped reservoir levels in the country's hydroelectric power system to record lows. The drought has forced Brazil to increase electricity generation from gas-fired power plants, leading to increased demand for the fuel.
The low reservoir levels have raised the possibility of electricity rationing during the 2014 soccer World Cup, which will be hosted in 12 cities across Brazil in June and July. Brazil last rationed electricity in 2002, when the country was hit by several major blackouts after the power grid was stretched beyond its limits.
