AP
Brazilian petrochemical company Braskem plans to build a $1.4 billion plant in Bolivia, while the Brazilian state energy giant Petrobras is in talks to open a biodiesel plant in the Andean country, Bolivia's hydrocarbons minister announced.
The two projects announced by Bolivian officials could mark the return of Brazilian investment to Bolivia after a monthslong freeze following President Evo Morales' petroleum nationalization in May 2006.
The Braskem proposal is backed by the Brazilian government and state oil company Petrobras, Bolivian hydrocarbons minister Carlos Villegas said Wednesday.
"The priority of this government is the industrialization of our natural gas, and the offer (from Braskem) is the most important proposal we have received," the minister said.
Company officials will visit Bolivia in March to discuss the plant in more detail, he said.
Petrobras, or Petroleo Brasileiro SA, is also negotiating with Bolivian state petroleum company Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales Bolivianos to open a Bolivian biodiesel plant jointly operated by both companies, Villegas said. He did not provide details of the project, which is still in its early planning stages.
The neighboring countries resolved a long-standing dispute over the price Brazil pays for Bolivian natural gas last week, after months of often tense negotiations. Morales and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed an agreement requiring Brazil to pay slightly more for the 26 million cubic meters of gas it imports each day from its poorer neighbor.
Bolivian officials claim the agreement will bring their country some $144 million in new revenue annually. Brazilian officials believe the increase will be lower.
Brazil gets about half of all its natural gas from Bolivia, paying nearly $1.3 billion for the fuel last year.
Proposals for a Brazilian petrochemical plant in Bolivia have been discussed for years. But the country's recent political instability -- including five presidents in the four years leading up to Morales' 2005 election -- kept the project on hold.
Bolivia has South American's largest natural gas reserves after Venezuela, but it lacks the capacity to convert the resource into finished products such as industrial polymers and petroleum-based fertilizers.
Braskem's proposed plant would match Morales' frequently stated goal of industrializing the gas sector to create badly needed jobs and export revenues in the continent's poorest country.
Your Ads At Here
