Petrobras says Brazil to up Bolivian natgas imports

RIO DE JANEIRO, May 1 (Reuters) - Brazil will raise its natural gas imports from Bolivia back to 30 million cubic meters a day in the next 15 days due to increased demand from thermoelectric power plants, the state-run energy company Petrobras said on Friday.

"The south is going through one of its worst droughts, the National Grid Operator ordered 14 million cubic meters per day be dispatched, the thermoelectric plants will come on in force at zero hours Saturday," Maria das Gracas Foster, head of Petrobras' (PETR4.SA) (PBR.N) gas and energy department, said.

At the start of the year, Brazil reduced its Bolivian gas imports from 30 million cubic meters a day to around 20 million cubic meters due to softening demand and increased natural gas production at home.

Brazil's emergency backup thermoelectric power plants, most of which are fired by natural gas, come online when the country's main hydroelectric generators enter into the dry season (May-November) to relieve demand on the falling reservoir levels.

They also come online when regions of Brazil suffer from drought, as the south has been experiencing. (Reporting by Reese Ewing and Denise Luna; Editing by Marguerita Choy)