Energy in Paraguay

Energy In Paraguay

Paraguay consumed 28,000 bbl/d (4,500 m3/d) of oil in 2006. It does not currently produce any crude oil. In February 2006, Paraguay’s Public Works Ministry announced that oil had been discovered in the western Chaco region by British oil company CDS, though CDS stated that the reservoir was too tight to facilitate unassisted oil production.

State-owned Petróleos Paraguayos (Petropar) has a monopoly on all crude oil and petroleum product sales and imports in Paraguay. It operates Paraguay's sole refinery, the 7,500 bbl/d (1,190 m3/d) Villa Elisa facility.

Like many oil-importing countries in the Western Hemisphere, Paraguay has tried to foster the development of special deals for importing crude oil and refined products from Venezuela. Paraguay, along with Uruguay, signed a deal in 2005 to receive crude oil imports from Venezuela under preferential financing terms. In December 2005, ANCAP and PdVSA, the Venezuelan national oil company, agreed to fund a study for the proposed doubling of the capacity at the La Teja plant. The project, which would cost an estimated $800 million, would also upgrade facilities at the refinery so that it could handle heavier Venezuelan crude varieties.