Brazilian petrochemical company Braskem plans to invest US$1.4 billion (€1.07 billion) in construction of a plant in Bolivia. Brazilian energy giant Petrobras is also in talks to open a biodiesel plant in the Andean country. The announcement of these two projects mark the return of Brazilian investment to Bolivia after a month long freeze following President Evo Morales' petroleum nationalization in May 2006.
Proposals for a Brazilian petrochemical plant in Bolivia that have been discussed for years, have been recently stalled due to the country's recent political instability. After months of negotiations, the two countries resolved a long-standing dispute over the price Brazil pays for Bolivian natural gas last week. An agreement has been signed requiring Brazil to pay slightly more for the 26 million cubic meters of gas it imports each day. This agreement could get annual revenues to Bolivia to the tune of US$144 million (€110 million). Interestingly, Brazil gets about half of all its natural gas from Bolivia, paying nearly US$1.3 billion (€1 billion) for the fuel last year.
Bolivia has South American's largest natural gas reserves after Venezuela, but it lacks the capacity to convert the resource into finished products such as industrial polymers and petroleum-based fertilizers.
24-Feb-07 
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