The nationalization of Bolivia's hydrocarbons industry appeared to move forward Tuesday
The nationalization of Bolivia's hydrocarbons industry appeared to move forward Tuesday as the government began long-awaited contract negotiations with foreign petroleum companies, and collected $32.3 million in new higher gas royalties.
Representatives from the French company Total SA met with Hydrocarbons Ministry officials on Tuesday in La Paz to draw up a new contract ceding a majority share of their Bolivian operations to the government, as required by President Evo Morales' May 1 nationalization decree.
Negotiations with other companies - including Brazil's state-owned Petroleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras, and the Spanish-Argentine company Repsol YPF - are expected to follow. All foreign companies are required to sign new government contracts before Nov. 1 or leave Bolivia.
Hydrocarbons Minister Andres Soliz said he was confident the negotiations, on which Morales' ambitious nationalization rests, would be successful.
The companies "have the right to wait for arbitration, but they also have the need to develop the fields and cover the Brazilian and Argentine markets," Soliz said Monday. "That allows us to make a political move to defend the interests of our country."
Soliz also announced the government had collected $32.3 million in combined back royalties from Total, Petrobras, and Repsol affiliate Andina for production in the San Antonio and San Alberto gas fields in southern Bolivia.
