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Repsol may cut Bolivian reserves estimates
AP
MADRID
Petroleumworld.com 06 19 06
Spanish-Argentine energy company Repsol YPF may have to lower its estimates of gas reserves in Bolivia when new legislation there comes becomes law, the company's chairman said Friday.Antoni Brufau said that depending on the final shape of Bolivia's new energy regulations, Repsol YPF may be forced to adjust its potential output expectations downwards.
Related newsCrude Prices Rise Ahead of WeekendBBVA Rules Out Further Buys in U.S.Focus Media Offers 6.7M ADS at $54 EachGrand Jury Seeks Documents From MichaelsHorizon Lines Closes Secondary Offering "Depending on events, we'll have to reduce barrels in Bolivia," Brufau told reporters ahead of the company's annual general meeting. "We'll have to lose part of the gas, the market knows this perfectly."
On 1 May, Bolivian President Evo Morales ordered his military to take control of 56 natural-gas exploration and production fields.
As the second-largest foreign energy stakeholder in Bolivia, Repsol YPF could be heavily affected by Morales' plans to part-nationalize an industry whose natural gas reserves are second only to Venezuela's in Latin America.
Corporate strategy director Miguel Martinez San Martin said Repsol was also considering an initial public offer of between 15-20 percent of its YPF unit. A decision on the IPO would be made by July, Martinez San Martin said.
Repsol had said earlier this year that it was considering the possibility of floating YPF, the Argentine energy company it acquired in 1999.
Repsol YPF also said that it wouldn't be making any further downgrades of its proved hydrocarbon reserves following the completion of an independent audit.
In January the company had announced a 25 percent downward revision of its global reserves and warned that further reassessments were possible during the course of the audit begun in 2005.
AP
June 16, 2006
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