400 million dollars which Repsol was going to invest in Bolivia have been frozen until the regulatory framework is clarified.
Bolivia's rather idiotic minister of gas, Andrés Soliz Rada probably contributed to this by suggesting that the company was somehow committing "accounting fraud" by "registering" its gas reserves in Bolivia with the "stock exchange in New York". Somehow this is an attempt to claim this gas as belonging to the company and not to its legitimate owner the Bolivian people. This moron is seriously deluding himself by claiming that SEC filings are somehow certificates of ownership.
Soliz Rada, sounds downright stupid if he seriously thinks it improper to list gas reserves in fields it is exploiting, in its list of assets. That is a standard practice, and failure to do so would result in an undervaluation of its assets that could get it in trouble, for failure to disclose assets under its duties to its shareholders under SEC regulatory rules. It is a very simple principle, understood by anyone with half a brain and a cursory understanding of elemental corporate finance, corporate rules, and the oil and gas industry. It is routine practice to list and give a valuation in dollar amounts to any executory, long-term contracts you have. If it involves
Soliz Rada got all fired up about a routine filing with the SEC, and which involved more than the reserves the company listed in Bolivia, it included its global holdings. And in Bolivia they revised downward the estimates of what it thought it could extract from gas fields it is exploiting in Bolvia. That depends on economic factors such as increased taxes and/or royalties, as well as key investments which could help its existing efforts. Having trigger-happy morons in command of key ministries definitively does not help.
Soliz Rada, though, doesn't stop there. He now somehow suggested that the companies revision of its reserves somehow constitutes a "giant step towards nationalization" of hyrdocarbons. How in the world that is, I don't have a clue, what I do know is that the guy is a real piece of work.
Repsol congela $us 400 millones de inversión en Bolivia
El presidente de la petrolera hispano-argentina Repsol YPF, Antonio Brufau, ha señalado que las inversiones de 400 millones de euros en Bolivia van a quedar congeladas "hasta que se clarifique el marco regulatorio" de la nueva ley de hidrocarburos, aunque subrayó la disposición de la petrolera al diálogo con el nuevo Gobierno del país andino.
Según Brufau, las inversiones están en 'stand-by' porque en la situación actual "es difícil comprometer inversiones a largo plazo", dijo en declaraciones a la prensa internacional.
El máximo responsable de Repsol YPF restó importancia a la decisión del gobierno boliviano de revisar la inscripción de las reservas de gas natural de la compañía en la bolsa de Nueva York.
Según Brufau, el problema no radica en la titularidad de las reservas, ya que en la mayor parte de los países productores son propiedad del Estado, sino en la capacidad de las petroleras para anotárselas, algo que se hace habitualmente.
Por otro lado, la petrolera hispano-argentina ha anunciado una reducción de sus reservas de gas en el país andino en un 25%. La mitad de esa reducción corresponde a las reservas de la compañía en Bolivia.
2 comments:
Soliz Rada's analysis is so flawed i thought it be good to give it a kick in my blog:
http://b2bolivia.blogspot.com/2006/01/spurious-victory-for-nationalization.html
I think its going to become a regular, tell me what you think.
He is an idiot, and even looking at it from a purely "propaganda" point of view it didn't even play good with the home crowd, since it was so muddled.
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