Natural gas discovered in Chile according to President Ricardo Lagos

March 2, 2006 On Thursday, President Ricardo Lagos announced the discovery of natural gas resources in southern Chile. The newspaper El Mercurio claims that this discovery could account for up to 25 percent of the country's natural gas needs. The discovery, found in Magallanes, could mean less dependence on foreign energy, specifically natural gas imported from Argentina. Currently Chile imports 97 percent of its natural gas and 98 percent of its oil. Magallanes has been an important producer of gas in the past, but resources were thought to have been exhausted until this discovery.

Lagos was interviewed by the local Radio W, where he said that the discovery could help them meet consumption of natural gas in the country, as well as help Methanex, a methanol company that has had difficulty finding enough natural gas for import. The situation has caused Lagos to have Chile's state owned gas company, ENAP, build a plant for conversion of liquid gas. In addition, they have considered importing natural gas from Bolivia, Trinidad and Tobago, Australia, and Indonesia.