Bolivia and Paraguay will work on an agreement to export Bolivian natural gas to Paraguay and explore building a regional pipeline, Bolivian Energy Minister Luis Alberto Sanchez said on Thursday.

Sanchez told reporters that the presidents of Bolivia and Paraguay will negotiate the possibility of Bolivia exporting gas to Paraguay in the next few weeks.

Sanchez also noted the possibility of constructing a pipeline to link the two countries along the Chaco region, so that up to 4 million cubic meters of gas can be exported daily.

The semi-arid Chaco region, which stretches across Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina, was the site of the 1932-1935 Chaco War between Bolivia and Paraguay, sparked in part by the belief that the area was rich in oil.

Bolivia hopes to position itself as a regional energy supplier.

Paraguay is already a major consumer of Bolivian liquefied petroleum gas (GLP), with around 95 percent of Paraguay's consumption coming directly from Bolivia.

Bolivia now plans to expand its GLP exports to other countries, said Sanchez.