The president of bolivia's Fiscal Oil Fields (YPFB), Armin Dorgathen, announced a US$387 million investment for the construction of a biodiesel plant and said that "in the coming days" the state will hold "the inauguration of the start of the works," according to local media outlet El Deber.

According to El Deber, the works were awarded directly to the subsidiary of the state-owned YPFB Refinación, after three unsuccessful bids. According to the media, the first bid canceled was for the production of Renewable Diesel – HVO, the second was for the production of synthetic diesel from used tires, plastics and lubricating oils. Finally, the latter was for the construction of a Biodiesel production plant – FAME. All of these bids have been declared null.

"In the coming days we will inaugurate the start of the works, which we are already starting for the construction of a Biodiesel Plant with FAME technology, with which we will work on another problem that we have as a country, which is the import of fuels.", he said.

According to data from the Ministry of Hydrocarbons and Energy, biodiesel will reduce imports and the state subsidy for diesel and increase the production of this fuel, within the framework of the Government's energy security policy.

"We will make investments in biodiesel plants that will allow us to create jobs and reduce fuel imports, deepening the nationalization of hydrocarbons more and more," Dorgaten said.

El Deber said the announcement was made after a series of complaints from different media outlets, which reported that the project is unfeasible because the supply of soybeans (raw material) for the operation of the plant is not guaranteed.

Source: Agrolink