Brazil's state-owned oil company will decide within four months whether to invest more money in its vast Bolivian energy operations, the top executive of Petrobras said Monday, according to AP. Chief executive Sergio Gabrielli said Brazil can now consider investments frozen earlier this year in the Andean nation because a new contract between the two nations «guarantees the profitability of current operations and allows us to think about future projects.» Relations between the countries soured for months after Bolivia on May 1 nationalized its petroleum industry, demanding that Petroleo Brasileiro SA and other foreign operators pay higher production royalties and cede control of their operations to Bolivia's state-owned oil company. Gabrielli made the comments two days after Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorin told reporters at a summit in Bolivia that the two countries are now cooperating on energy projects and continue negotiations on pricing Bolivian natural gas supplies to Brazil, its largest customer.
