Bolivia’s president has announced plans to exploit a vast natural gas reserve north of Bolivia’s administrative capital, La Paz. President Luis Arce said Monday the discovery of 1.7 trillion cubic feet of gas would once again make Bolivia a major exporter of fossil fuels.

President Luis Arce: “It will mark the beginning of a new chapter for the northern sub-Andean region. It offers the hope of maintaining our country as an important gas exporter, driving a second era of hydrocarbon production and positioning La Paz as a department that is now a hydrocarbon producer.”

Bolivia is already South America’s largest exporter of natural gas, although its shipments are dwarfed by the world leader, the United States.