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Argentina's Kirchner calls on oil firms to invest
BUENOS AIRES
Petroleumworld.com 11 29 07
Argentine President Nestor Kirchner on Wednesday called for energy firms Petrobras (PBR.N: Quote, Profile, Research) (PETR4.SA: Quote, Profile, Research) and Repsol YPF (REP.MC: Quote, Profile, Research) to invest more in the country, which has faced energy shortages amid strong economic growth.In a speech to construction industry leaders, Kirchner -- whose wife will succeed him as president on Dec. 10 -- said "there was no need to dramatize" the energy issue.
He said President-elect Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner had a "battery of measures" to deal with the supply crunch, which saw the government restrict supplies to industry during an unusually cold southern-hemisphere winter.
"Petrobras has got to invest much more," Kirchner said. "The other company that has got to take on the challenge ... on this issue, and we hope it will, is Repsol."
Both Petrobras, a Brazilian state company, and Spain's Repsol have a major presence in Argentina.
Latin America's third-largest economy is on track to clock a fifth year of growth of above 8 percent, but the surging demand for energy is seen as one of the biggest challenges facing Fernandez when she takes over as president.
Story reporting by Jorge Otaola; translated by Helen Popper; editing by Braden Reddall from Reuters
Reuters 29 11 07
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