BUENOS AIRES – Bolivia has agreed to sell up to 6.5 million cubic meters (229 million cubic feet) per day of natural gas to Argentina during the upcoming Southern Hemisphere winter, Argentine state-run media reported.

The accord was reached during a meeting in this capital between the president of Bolivian state energy firm YPFB, Carlos Villegas, and Argentine Planning Minister Julio De Vido.

De Vido and Villegas “reviewed the main items on the bilateral energy agenda,” Argentine national news agency Telam said Friday, adding that technicians belonging to a bi-national working group are scheduled to meet April 13 in the eastern Bolivian city of Santa Cruz.

Bolivia currently exports 4.5 million cubic meters per day of natural gas to Argentina, or 3.2 million cmd less than that specified in a bilateral accord. That same agreement also states that 27 million cmd are to be provided by 2011.

Argentina, which had stopped importing Bolivian gas at the end of the 1990s, resumed its purchases of the fuel from the Andean nation in 2004 amid an energy crisis.

Natural gas supplies have not kept up with demand in Argentina, which depends on the fuel run its power plants and heat homes. That shortfall is partly due to the fact that price controls enacted since an economic meltdown earlier this decade have crimped investment.

The announcement of increased Bolivian exports of natural gas follows Brasilia’s decision earlier this year to shut down some energy plants that run on Bolivian gas and reduce imports of the fuel, after heavy rains swelled hydroelectric reservoirs.

Meanwhile, it was announced this week that the price Argentina and Brazil pay for imported Bolivian natural gas has been lowered amid a scenario of lower international prices for the fuel.

The Bolivian government also said Thursday that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, it expects average natural gas output this year of 46 million cubic meters per day, which would be a new record for the Andean nation.