Nielmar Oliveira
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Rio - When he took office in January, the president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, repeated a campaign promise that left some economists worried. Morales pledged to revise the regulation of the energy sector. There were expectations that Petrobras - Brazilian Petroleum, S.A. - would be harmed by the new measures.

But, instead of facing a dispute, the Brazilian company is negotiating new partnerships with the Bolivian state petroleum company, Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales Boliviano (YPBF). For Petrobras' director of Gas and Energy, Ildo Sauer, this dialogue is motivated by the marked presence of the Brazilian petroleum company in Bolivia.

In an exclusive interview with the Agência Brasil, Sauer disclosed that Petrobras, together with its partners, has already invested around US$ 1.5 billion in Bolivia, between 1994 and 2005. The Brazilian company accounts for 20% of the direct investments in Bolivia and 18% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The company operates 46% of Bolivia's natural gas reserves and is also responsible for 100% of the gasoline produced in that country and 60% of the diesel oil consumed there.

Petrobras entered Bolivia in the latter part of 1995. Today it is the country's biggest company. Between 1997 and 2000, the Brazilian government-run enterprise built the Bolivia-Brazil gas pipeline (Gasbol), establishing a regular flow of Bolivian natural gas to Brazil, which imports up to 30 million cubic meters a day of the product.

Bolivia contains 52.5% of Petrobras' new discoveries and reserves of natural gas abroad. Petrobras's business activities there include exploration, production, and sales of natural gas, pipeline transport of natural gas, natural gas processing and refining units, a lubricant unit, and the distribution of derivatives.

Translation: David Silberstein