Bolivia nationalises pipeline firm
State takes over major oil and gas pipeline from European and US firms.
Published On 5 Jun 2008
“They wanted to be bosses, and have us be the employees. Partners are welcome, but we will not accept bosses.”
Morales also accused Transredes of “having conspired” against his government.
The two foreign companies declined to comment on the announcement.
Since his election as Bolivia’s first indigenous president in 2005, Morales has moved to exert greater state control over the country’s natural gas fields – the second largest in South America, after Venezuela’s.
Energy industry analysts have said that YPFB, or Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales Bolivianos, the state oil company, may lack the technical expertise to handle its growing role the country’s gas distribution system.
Source: News Agencies