Page 9 - LatAmOil Week 40 2022
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LatAmOil                                         BOLIVIA                                           LatAmOil



                         Arce took this step to free up extra volumes of
                         gas for the national oil company (NOC) YPFB
                         to export, the news agency noted.
                           The presidential decree has drawn opposi-
                         tion from the Bolivian business community,
                         with some manufacturers expressing concern
                         that the redirection of gas to the export market
                         may cause domestic electricity prices to rise.
                         The Cámara Nacional de Industria de Bolivia
                         (CNI), a local business association, has said it
                         will draft an alternative proposal and submit it
                         to the government, but as of press time no word
                         was available on the details of this plan.
                           Bolivia’s government is eager to find ways to
                         generate additional foreign currency revenue.
                         The country has done so in the past by exporting
                         gas to both Brazil and Argentina via cross-bor-  Bolivia exports gas to Argentina and Brazil via pipeline (Image: YPFB/Esri)
                         der pipelines, but as production levels have
                         declined in recent years, it has been increasingly   Malaysia’s Petronas during the Rio Oil & Gas
                         hard-pressed to meet its commitments to both   2022 conference last week to discuss proposals
                         of these neighbouring states. In April, it chose to   for co-operation in the gas sector. YPFB said in
                         cut deliveries to Brazil and increase exports to   a statement issued after the meeting that Petro-
                         Argentina when the latter offered a better price.  nas was considering upstream exploration pro-
                           In related news, Armin Dorgathen, the pres-  jects in Bolivia, but did not provide any further
                         ident of YPFB, met with his counterpart from   details. ™




                                                        BRAZIL
       Questions about Brazilian oil sector’s




       future persist as voters head for run-off






                         UNCERTAINTY about the future of Brazil’s
                         oil policy is set to persist for at least a few more
                         weeks, as the October 3 presidential election
                         ended with neither of the two leading candidates
                         winning a majority of votes, making a run-off
                         necessary.
                           According to official election returns, the
                         incumbent president, Jair Bolsonaro, took
                         43.2% of all ballots cast, while his challenger
                         Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took 48.4%. Lula’s
                         higher numbers came as no surprise, as the
                         leftist candidate (himself a former president)
                         has consistently outpolled Bolsonaro. However,
                         the right-leaning incumbent did perform better
                         than expected, given the extent to which he had
                         been trailing his opponent during the campaign.
                           In any event, Bolsonaro and Lula are now   The run-off is set for October 30 (Images: Twitter/@LulaOficial, @jairbolsonaro)
                         headed for a run-off election. As such, their
                         competing visions for Brazil’s oil industry will   refineries, and some of his advisors have report-
                         also be put to the test.             edly suggested that Brasilia either attempt to
                           If Lula emerges as the victor in the run-off,   buy the plants back or ensure government rep-
                         which has been scheduled for October 30, he is   resentation on the boards of newly independent
                         likely to push for greater state involvement in the   refineries.
                         oil sector and more state control over Petrobras,   Additionally, he has talked about expand-
                         the national oil company (NOC). He has made   ing Petrobras’ domestic refining capacity and
                         clear that he does not favour continuing Petro-  decoupling domestic fuel prices from shifts in
                         bras’ ongoing campaign to privatise most of its   currency markets.



       Week 40   05•October•2022                www. NEWSBASE .com                                              P9
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