Most South American nations produce about half of their electricity by burning natural gas to generate electric power. Natural gas is easier to find, extract, and put to use in Brazil than in neighboring Argentina and Uruguay. Consequently, the lower opportunity cost of producing electricity in Brazil explains why both Argentina and Uruguay have been importing electricity from Brazil since 2004.

Why might Brazil someday import electricity from Argentina if recent discoveries of natural gas in southern Argentina generate large increases in its stocks of this resource?