Guardian: Gambling with gas (Bolivia's power play, not naturalization yet [View All]

At a time when world demand for oil and gas is high, Bolivia, one of Latin America's poorest countries, has picked the right time to flex its muscles vis-a-vis foreign energy companies. Evo Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous president, has ordered troops to occupy natural gas fields and threatened to expel foreign companies that do not recognise state control. The move was widely seen as a first step towards nationalisation of the country's natural resources.

But Pablo Ossio, the charge d'affaires at the Bolivian embassy cautioned against jumping to conclusions. "Let's wait and see," he said. "So far we don't have the whole picture. The president has said he wants to give the oil companies 180 days to renegotiate contracts."

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The foreign operators may be unhappy at the turn of events and they may well decide to quit Bolivia, but the government in La Paz appears unconcerned as it believes that others are ready to come in. "The Chinese are waiting to come in if the present operators are not interested," said Mr Ossio. "We have heard that Gazprom is interested as well as a Norwegian company."

John Crabtree of Oxford University also cautions against using the word nationalisation.

"Perhaps it's a show of strength designed to force the gas companies to renegotiate their contracts. This government does not accept their legitimacy as they were not approved by congress," he said.


http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/news/archives/2006/05/02/gambling_with_gas.html