Editing Economy of Bolivia (section)

====Natural gas====
{{main | Natural gas in Bolivia }}
The country's natural gas reserves total {{convert|27.6|Tcuft|km3}} according to Bolivian government figures, ranking Bolivia behind only [[Venezuela]] in terms of proven natural gas reserves in South America.<ref name="loc" /> Additionally, Bolivia is self-sufficient in its energy production.<ref name="loc" /> The sector changed significantly when the government allowed [[privatization]] in the mid-1990s.<ref name="loc" /> International companies quickly invested in Bolivian energy sources, particularly in natural gas, and made Bolivia into a player in the world [[energy market]].<ref name="loc" /> The exportation of Bolivian energy resources, while potentially lucrative economically, has been politically hazardous.<ref name="loc" /> President [[Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada]] ultimately resigned over his plan to export natural gas to the United States and Mexico in 2003.<ref name="loc" />

On 6 June 2005, former president [[Carlos Mesa]] offered his resignation to the Bolivian Congress after [[Bolivian Gas Conflict|months of demonstrations]] by Bolivia's indigenous population calling for renationalizing the [[Natural gas in Bolivia|natural gas]] and oil sectors.<ref name="loc" /> Mesa had increased taxation on foreign companies while still encouraging their investment in Bolivian energy development.<ref name="loc" /> On 1 May 2006, his successor, former president Morales, signed a decree stating that all natural gas reserves were to be nationalized, recovering ownership, possession and control of hydrocarbons. US Exxon Mobil Corporation, Petrobras, Spain's Repsol YPF, UK gas and oil producer BG Group Plc, and France's Total are the main gas companies present in the country.

Bolivia's natural gas exports bring in millions of dollars per day, in royalties, rents and taxes.<ref name="Gustafson 2020 10" /> From 2007 to 2017, what is referred to as the "government take" on gas totaled approximately $22 billion.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gustafson |first=Bret |title=Bolivia in the Age of Gas |date=18 September 2020 |publisher=Duke University Press |isbn=978-1-4780-1099-9 |pages=10}}</ref>