The administration is advancing a new hydrocarbons law that modifies the participation framework to enable what Paz described as a 50/50 risk-and-reward model with international oil companies. Under the proposed structure, private firms would share both investment costs and profits equally with the state oil company YPFB, replacing the service-contract regime implemented during the previous government. Paz emphasized that Tarija, a key producing region, must recover its constitutional 11 percent royalty share through renewed exploration and production activity.
Paz called on the national legislature to approve the investment law within the coming week and urged lawmakers to ratify an agreement with the International Monetary Fund to secure financing for development projects. He also requested that environmental organizations refrain from blocking hydrocarbon development with procedural demands, arguing that resource exploitation under environmental norms is essential to restore regional income and productive capacity.
The president’s energy warnings coincided with broader political tensions. Speaking at the September 4 inauguration of the La Paz Expone 2026 trade fair, Paz claimed the country faced an attempted coup earlier in the year and warned that another structural political crisis threatening democracy and the constitution could be imminent. He linked political stability to passage of the hydrocarbons, mining, and investment laws, asserting that clear legal frameworks and constitutional reform deepening regional autonomy are necessary for Bolivia to attract capital and transition toward a federal governance model. Paz acknowledged threats from radical social sectors to resume pressure campaigns and demanded that La Paz residents mobilize in support of the three legislative initiatives.
This article was curated and published as part of our South American energy market coverage.
