Petrobras: Gas Supply from Bolivia is Normal

Petrobras's head Sergio Gabrielli said on Monday that the supply of Bolivian natural gas to Brazil was currently normal.

He made the remarks after Guarani Indians living in Bolivia occupied one of the Transierra gas pipeline stations.

According to Gabrielli, officials of Bolivia's Ministry of Agriculture had a meeting with the Guaranis on Monday afternoon, in order to negotiate an end to the siege. He appealed for a negotiated solution for the crisis and said that the siege could not continue.

The Transierra gas-duct belongs to a consortium comprised of Petrobras, Spain/Argentina's Repsol-YPF and France-headquartered Total Final Elf. The pipeline, which began operation in April 2003, transports natural gas from fields in the Trajira district in Bolivia, up to the Bolivia-Brazil gas-duct (Gasbol), the main pipeline that links the two South American countries.

The head of the Guarani People's Assembly (APG), Wilson Chagarray is leading the siege and threatens to interrupt the natural gas flow in the Transierra pipeline. According to APG, the consortium owning the duct, had agreed last year, to invest 9 million U.S. dollars in this region's social development, which still has not been accomplished.

Regarding a related matter, Gabrielli also said on Monday, that Petrobras would hold another meeting with representatives from Bolivia's Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales Boliviano (YPFB) on Sept. 14, to discuss Bolivia's request for a price rise of the natural gas supplied to Brazil. The executive denied Petrobras was ready to accept YPFB's demands.