Untitled Document
LA PAZ (AFX) - Bolivia's government has ordered the armed forces to take 'physical
control' of oilfields in a politically charged move amid continuing demands for
full nationalization of the industry in South America's poorest country.
But the move does not mean an end to the operations of foreign multinationals,
such as Britain's BP, Spain's Repsol, France's Total and Brazil's Petrobras,
which have been here since 1997.
'It is symbolic more than anything else,' said analyst and university professor
Marcelo Varnoux, according to Agence France-Presse.
Interim president Eduardo Rodriguez issued decrees late Monday instructing
the ministries of Oil and Gas, Interior, and Defense 'to coordinate work and
operations so as to guarantee State authority at oil and gas deposits'.
The move implements a law approved in May and which the multinationals have
slammed as confiscatory. Monday's decree underscored that the industry should
operate 'in the interest of all Bolivians'.
The new oil law doubled to 32 pct non-deductible taxes on the oil companies,
and kept at 18 pct their royalty payments to the state. It also boosts the role
of the state oil company YPFB in the production process.
The move comes after New York oil prices closed above 60 usd a barrel for the
first time on Monday, and although prices cooled Tuesday, market jitters remain.
