Ministry delays reopening hydrocarbons bill dialogue

Bolivia's central government has postponed for "at least one week" launching a new round of talks with regional authorities and other interested parties on the proposed new hydrocarbons bill, a hydrocarbons ministry spokesperson told BNamericas. Hydrocarbons minister Antonio Araníbar was supposed to kick off the meetings on Monday in Tarija department but has postponed doing so due to "a change in his agenda," the spokesperson said. The meetings will cover Bolivia's nine departments and are designed to reopen dialogue between the regions and the state government over the long-awaited hydrocarbons bill. The ministry has so far failed to reach a consensus on the bill with oil companies and President Carlos Mesa has repeatedly delayed presenting it to congress. Former hydrocarbons minister Alberto Ríos resigned in early March when he was summoned before parliament to answer questions related to the existing hydrocarbons law, which some see as giving too much say to private oil companies. Mesa replaced Ríos with Araníbar in an attempt to bridge the gap between the government and oil companies. However, Araníbar is unpopular with Bolivian social groups due to his links with former President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada. He has been implicated in the investigation into a contract signed with US company Enron in 1994 when he was Sánchez de Lozada's foreign minister. The contract paid Enron US$130mn to build the Bolivia-Brazil gas pipeline with state oil company YPFB but the government wants the money back because it says there were "irregularities" in the way Enron charged for the work. Sánchez de Lozada was forced out of office last October after demonstrations against exporting natural gas to North America left dozens dead.