Published Jornada.net
Buenos Aires (EFE)
Argentina agreed yesterday to pay $ 5 per million BTU (British thermal unit) natural gas it buys from Bolivia, representing an increase of about 50 percent and a history of bargaining that the Andean country has with Brazil.
The agreement, which also applies to Chile, was signed by Argentine President Nestor Kirchner and his Bolivian counterpart, Evo Morales, in his first official visit to Buenos Aires since he took office on 22 January.
"That gas price rise to $ 5 a benefit to my country, economic relief," Morales said during a rally he attended with Kirchner in the area of \u200b\u200bHurlingham, 20 kilometers from Buenos Aires, where the highest concentration of Bolivians living in this country.
The new price agreed after months of negotiations between Buenos Aires and La Paz governed from July 15 until the end of the year. Before the parties must define a formula to calculate the value that will be implemented from 2007, officials said.
Minister of Hydrocarbons of Bolivia, Andres Soliz Rada, hinted that this agreement affects Chile, noting that Argentina has undertaken "not to issue new licenses to private companies to export Bolivian gas" to the Chilean market.
Soliz Rada told reporters that Bolivia wants to sell energy to Chile, but noted that the Morales government is in effect the "politics of gas by sea", referring to the old claim of Bolivia to Chile for an outlet to the Pacific Ocean. OTHER AGREEMENTS
Néstor Kirchner and Evo Morales also agreed to build a plant for separating natural gas liquids in Bolivia, near the common border, among other insights.
In this sense, the Bolivian Hydrocarbons Minister said that this plant, "liquids and marketing" will belong to Bolivia, which in turn "gave a price of $ 5 and not $ 5.50" per million BTU . Morales nationalized
May 1 last hydrocarbon deposits in Bolivia, controlled by foreign oil as the Hispano-Argentina's Repsol-YPF and Brazil's Petrobras, and then consider increasing the price of gas to Argentina and Brazil.
From 2004 to now, Argentina imported from Bolivia a daily average of 5.5 million cubic meters of gas (5 percent of what it consumes the country) to 3.35 dollars per million BTU, when the international price between 7 and $ 8 per million British unit of measurement.
This agreement is key to Argentina, which plans to buy about 27 million cubic meters of Bolivian gas after the end of construction del Gasoducto del Nordeste, destinado a abastecer a siete provincias y que demandará una inversión de 1.000 millones de dólares.
"Consideramos que el gas boliviano no va a ir a Chile por lo menos en los próximos tres años, hasta que esté terminado el Gasoducto del Noreste, pero para ese entonces las necesidades de Argentina serán tan grandes que el gas boliviano tampoco va a ir a Chile", puntualizó Soliz Rada.
"Queremos venderle energía a Chile, pero termo-electricidad, que es lo que más necesita la minería chilena, y guardarnos el gas natural para la negociación marítima", añadió el ministro boliviano.
Kirchner destacó en el acto de ayer This agreement is a "significant step" to "ensure the energy equation in the region" and "the first step toward the great South American gas pipeline, which will run from Venezuela to Uruguay.
Meanwhile, the price agreement between Argentina and Bolivia is a precedent in negotiations with the Andean nation remains Brazil, which the Morales government intends to charge $ 7.5 per million BTUs, according to Soliz Rada.
Bolivia Brazil buys about 26 million cubic meters Daily gas to a value close to $ 4 per million BTU, a total of up to 30 million cubic meters committed until 2019.
Buenos Aires (EFE)
Argentina agreed yesterday to pay $ 5 per million BTU (British thermal unit) natural gas it buys from Bolivia, representing an increase of about 50 percent and a history of bargaining that the Andean country has with Brazil.
The agreement, which also applies to Chile, was signed by Argentine President Nestor Kirchner and his Bolivian counterpart, Evo Morales, in his first official visit to Buenos Aires since he took office on 22 January.
"That gas price rise to $ 5 a benefit to my country, economic relief," Morales said during a rally he attended with Kirchner in the area of \u200b\u200bHurlingham, 20 kilometers from Buenos Aires, where the highest concentration of Bolivians living in this country.
The new price agreed after months of negotiations between Buenos Aires and La Paz governed from July 15 until the end of the year. Before the parties must define a formula to calculate the value that will be implemented from 2007, officials said.
Minister of Hydrocarbons of Bolivia, Andres Soliz Rada, hinted that this agreement affects Chile, noting that Argentina has undertaken "not to issue new licenses to private companies to export Bolivian gas" to the Chilean market.
Soliz Rada told reporters that Bolivia wants to sell energy to Chile, but noted that the Morales government is in effect the "politics of gas by sea", referring to the old claim of Bolivia to Chile for an outlet to the Pacific Ocean. OTHER AGREEMENTS
Néstor Kirchner and Evo Morales also agreed to build a plant for separating natural gas liquids in Bolivia, near the common border, among other insights.
In this sense, the Bolivian Hydrocarbons Minister said that this plant, "liquids and marketing" will belong to Bolivia, which in turn "gave a price of $ 5 and not $ 5.50" per million BTU . Morales nationalized
May 1 last hydrocarbon deposits in Bolivia, controlled by foreign oil as the Hispano-Argentina's Repsol-YPF and Brazil's Petrobras, and then consider increasing the price of gas to Argentina and Brazil.
From 2004 to now, Argentina imported from Bolivia a daily average of 5.5 million cubic meters of gas (5 percent of what it consumes the country) to 3.35 dollars per million BTU, when the international price between 7 and $ 8 per million British unit of measurement.
This agreement is key to Argentina, which plans to buy about 27 million cubic meters of Bolivian gas after the end of construction del Gasoducto del Nordeste, destinado a abastecer a siete provincias y que demandará una inversión de 1.000 millones de dólares.
"Consideramos que el gas boliviano no va a ir a Chile por lo menos en los próximos tres años, hasta que esté terminado el Gasoducto del Noreste, pero para ese entonces las necesidades de Argentina serán tan grandes que el gas boliviano tampoco va a ir a Chile", puntualizó Soliz Rada.
"Queremos venderle energía a Chile, pero termo-electricidad, que es lo que más necesita la minería chilena, y guardarnos el gas natural para la negociación marítima", añadió el ministro boliviano.
Kirchner destacó en el acto de ayer This agreement is a "significant step" to "ensure the energy equation in the region" and "the first step toward the great South American gas pipeline, which will run from Venezuela to Uruguay.
Meanwhile, the price agreement between Argentina and Bolivia is a precedent in negotiations with the Andean nation remains Brazil, which the Morales government intends to charge $ 7.5 per million BTUs, according to Soliz Rada.
Bolivia Brazil buys about 26 million cubic meters Daily gas to a value close to $ 4 per million BTU, a total of up to 30 million cubic meters committed until 2019.
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