Humberto Vacaflor accurately describes the misfortune of having the lousiest government of all times: the Mother of All Bolivian Revenues is falling down the cracks … evo has destroyed our best economic times in history, ever!
THE COLUMN CONFINED BY THE MAZISMO
- YPFB is bankrupt, like the country, according to Leonardo Coutinho.
- “Roll up your sleeves”.
Memories of the present
Let’s save YPFB
Humberto Vacaflor Ganam
The company that was born after a war and strengthened when the army defeated a guerrilla, is now in crisis, despite having produced fabulous income during the super cycle years.
Only two oil companies in the world went wrong after those years of incredible prices: the Venezuelan PDVSA and the Bolivian YPFB. They were so badly managed that they are now in ruins.
A worker of unknown name of YPFB dared, last year, to face the country’s leaders, those who were responsible for the collapse, and tell them that they were killing the company.
It is likely that the worker was fired, but his testimony was recorded in a recording that, by those things of technology, was known only now.
The two refineries in the country are operating without the oil they need because, as is known, the country does not produce enough oil because the necessary investments in exploration were not made.
The $53,000 million dollars that exports produced during the period of high prices were squandered in the purchase of white elephants and in superfluous expenses, such as museums and palaces.
In 2006 there were 600 employees of the company and now there are 8,000. A company that produces more jobs than barrels of oil, as happened to the Venezuelan PDVSA.
What the worker of unknown name said is that now the production of crude reaches only 40,000 barrels per day and that the two refineries need to process 62,000 barrels.
If the problem is not solved, one of the two refineries will have to stop. They had warned the workers of the company in 2015 but they were never heard. “We have shouted,” said the worker. “A well is not done in a month. Roll up your sleeves.”
Instead of rolling up their sleeves and doing exploration, the company only concentrated on exploitation, until it managed to exhaust the producing fields found during previous governments.
The error remains now, this year, YPFB will allocate $482 million dollars in exploitation and $422 million in exploration. That is, they do not understand that the exploration should be privileged.
An effort is announced to increase the production of the San Antonio field, to squeeze it, as happened with San Alberto, who is now living its last days.
Someone has to save YPFB.
Bolivian Thoughts 