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Petrobras halts $5bn investment plans for Bolivia
under subscription wall. short excerpt:
Petrobras, the largest international company operating in Bolivia, has suspended plans to invest up to $5bn in the country’s gas sector after it said negotiations with the government of Evo Morales had broken down.

The announcement signals a deterioration in relations between the Morales administration and the gas sector. “Within the sector there is complete disappointment and lack of enthusiasm,” said an industry insider. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Petrobras’s change of heart appeared to have come in response to a series of aggressive statements from Andrés Soliz Rada, Bolivia’s hydrocarbons minister.
In recent days, Mr Soliz has threatened to raise tax rates on some gas fields from 50 per cent to 70 per cent, refused to negotiate with oil companies that are threatening to go to international arbitration. He has also accused Brazil of hardening its attitude in talks and of viewing Bolivia “as some kind of semi-colony”.
Morales has been spending lots of time with his best buddy Chavez
The industry source said the knock-on effects of Petrobras’s announcement could be extremely serious. “If Petrobras is saying that, it makes it more likely that the whole sector will just stagnate,” he said.

Posted by: lotp 2006-04-03
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=147247