Repsol hopes for huge Bolivia natgas find - report

LA PAZ, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Spanish oil company Repsol YPF plans to announce in the next month the results of exploration work at what could be a major natural gas field in southern Bolivia, local media reported on Thursday.

Since February 2006, Repsol (REP.MC) has been exploring for hydrocarbons in Chuquisaca province, not far from the natural gas-rich Tarija region, a top company official was quoted as saying by state news agency ABI.

"In about a month we'll be able to confirm whether this is a massive (natural gas) field. We're all anxious, and we'd like to say today that this is a big field," the president of Repsol's Bolivian subsidiary, Luis Garcia, said.

"We're working well and ... have achieved our technical goals," he added.

A Repsol YPF spokeswoman in Bolivia said she had nothing to add to Garcia's comments.

After meeting with Repsol officials on Wednesday, the governor of Chuquisaca province, David Sanchez, told reporters he had "great expectations" that drilling could lead eventually to the development of a field "bigger than Margarita."

The Margarita field, also run by Repsol YPF, is one of Bolivia's largest, with nearly 11 trillion cubic feet of proven and probable reserves.

Last year, the leftist government of President Evo Morales decreed the nationalization of Bolivia's natural gas reserves, forcing foreign energy companies to hand over a larger share of their revenue to the state and cede control.

Analysts said the move would deter investors, but in August government officials announced that Repsol YPF had agreed to invest some $900 million in Bolivia by 2010.