Bolivia completes takeover of 4 energy companies
May 1st, 2008 | by admin |LA PAZ, May 1 (Reuters) - Bolivia’s leftist government said Thursday itcompleted the purchase of majority ownership of four energy companies bybuying back shares in the firms as part of a nationalization drive startedexactly two years ago.
In a paid advertisement in La Razon newspaper, state-run energy companyYPFB said it took control of Andina, previously controlled by Spain’sRepsol YPF (REP.MC: Quote, Profile, Research); Chaco, previously held by BP Plc (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research) and PanAmerican Energy; and pipeline company Transredes, formerly controlled byAshmore Energy International Ltd (ASHM.L: Quote, Profile, Research).
YPFB did not provide details of the operation that leftist PresidentEvo Morales had promised to complete by April 30.
The government also said it completed the buyout of storage and fueltransport firm CLHB, controlled by German and Peruvian firms.
The announcement came just days before the wealthy region of SantaCruz, home to Bolivia’s natural gas reserves, votes in a referendum forautonomy from the central government.
Bolivia has South America’s second-largest natural gas reserves, afterVenezuela, and supplies neighboring Argentina and Brazil with the fuel. (Reporting by Alejandro Lifschitz; Editing by John Picinich)
