Argentina and Bolivia have inaugurated a new 48km natural gas pipeline. The two governments invested approximately USD 50 million to build the pipeline, which was created to significantly increase the amount of fuel piped from Bolivia to Argentina. As per the current contract, Bolivia will export 7.0 million CUM of natural gas to Argentina, each day. The contract also calls for Bolivia to increase natural-gas exports to Argentina to 11 million CUM a day next year; that amount will incrementally increase until it reaches 27.7 million CUM a day. Domestic demand for natural gas in Bolivia has increased sharply in recent years, conflicting with the country’s export obligations, which are the major source of Bolivia’s export revenue and foreign-currency reserves. Bolivia requires between 8.0 million and 8.5 million CUM of natural gas each day.