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Source: Bnamericas
Date: 05/28/2007 00:00
The Bolivian government is hoping to lower the cost of lubricants in the domestic market once the nationalization of two refineries previously run by Brazilian federal energy firm Petrobras (NYSE: PBR) is completed, Bolivian state news agency ABN reported.
President Evo Morales has called on state hydrocarbons company YPFB to study how to lower the prices of refined crude oil as he considers it unfair that petroleum products are so expensive in an oil-producing nation.
"Yacimientos [YPFB] has been instructed; after the refineries [Guillermo Elder Bell and Gualberto Villarroel] have been officially returned, it will seek to lower the price of lubricants [in talks] with truck transporters," Morales was quoted as saying by newspaper La Razón.
The Costa Rican government is preparing to sue chemical company Químicos Holanda over an explosion and fire at its storage facility in Moín, Limón province, local press reported.
It cost the authorities 151mn colones (US$291,000) for the emergency services to control the blaze and deal with the aftermath and that is the preliminary amount that environment and energy minister Roberto Dobles will claim in damages, according to newspaper Diario Extra.
The state public prosecutor will decide if the suit will be a criminal or civil case, although authorities and the company could reach an out of court settlement, the report said.
The fire, thought to have been caused by a spark at the firm`s storage facility, which contained mostly solvents, caused two deaths and several injuries, as well as environmental contamination.
US-based chemical giant DuPont (NYSE: DD) has named Venezuelan executive Melquíades Pulido García as its new president for the Andean region to coordinate offices and distribution centers in Venezuela, Colombia, Bolivia and Peru, Colombian daily Portafolio reported.
Pulido, who was manager of the firm in Venezuela, said that after focusing on the production of chemicals, polymers, energy and oil, the company would be aiming to develop biotechnology.
The executive added that DuPont saw revenue growth of 14% in the Andean region in 2006 compared to 2005 and was expecting to grow by approximately the same amount this year with similar sales volumes.

