Brazilian state energy company Petroleo Brasileiro S/A (PBR, PETR4.BR), or Petrobras, expects to continue importing natural gas from neighboring Bolivia for the foreseeable future, the director of the company's gas and energy unit said Wednesday.

"We are going to need natural gas from Bolivia," Petrobras's Jose Alcides Santoro Martins said. "Gas from Bolivia is always part of our planning."

Petrobras expects to continue the imports despite estimates that natural gas output could surge in coming years as recently discovered offshore oil fields start producing, Mr. Martins said. The fields have a high percentage of associated natural gas that is produced along with the crude.

Write to Jeff Fick at Jeff.Fick@dowjones.com

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