Brazilians Get Testy

According to the folks at Petroleumworld Brazil's foreign ministry dressed-down Bolivia's new Foreign Minister, Armando Loaiza at the Mercosur conference in Paraguay. In a letter and in person, the Brazilians expressed their extrem concern with Bolivia's unstable oil and gas regulations. The Brazilian gov't is a large shareholder in Petrobas, which is the largest corporation in Bolivia, the Bolivia-Brazil gas deal is of vital importance to Brazilian energy needs, and there are more phases of the project needing completion. Brazil and Bolivian trade was over 1.2 billion dollars last year, with Bolivia actually having a favorable balance.