Jewellery Party Invite Wording

Repsol and the assault on the reserves

general and to chill the angry beat llajua in our veins, Jaime sends this revealing article written by Andres Soliz Rada, published el18/01/2006

legal terminology has been enriched with a new concept that would fade of envy to the most outstanding jurists of our time. The oil company Repsol announced that he had registered as its own gas reserves in Bolivia that controls the stock market in New York under the name of 'concessions sovereign' ('El Diario', La Paz 1/15/2006). The concession is only temporary and limited authorization granted by the State to individuals to exploit natural resources or services. Sovereignty, however, is the supreme power is a state within a nation, which is not subject in its territory, any agency or to another nation. Saying 'granting sovereign' is as absurd as talk of a round square.

According to former World Bank consultant, Victor Paz Ramiro Cerruto, son of four-time former President Victor Paz Estenssoro, the Rules 4 to 10 of the regulation s - x of the Securities and Echange Commission (SEC) of USA, which oversees the operation of the Exchange, said that 'only can be considered proven hydrocarbon reserves those whose engineering and geological analysis demonstrate that they can be recovered (with 90% probability) of existing reservoirs, which have a guaranteed market for a purchase agreement ("La Prensa", 30 - 01-05).

On that basis, denounced the massive fraud that was about to commit the Pacific LNG consortium, comprising British Gas, British Petroleum and Repsol-YPF, in addition to the trader Sempra, which supposedly should sell Bolivian gas to the U.S. by LNG vessels, through a Chilean port. According to Peace Cerruto, the project never existed, since the only purpose of the oil, would enhance its subsidiaries in Chile, was to show the SEC the contract signed by Bolivia to target the U.S. market, to register as their own the 48 trillion cubic feet (TCFS) of proven and probable reserves that the country faces.

The consultant recalled that the 'affair' was alleged complicity of the President of Mexico, Vicente Fox, who authorized the use of Puerto Vallarta to install a regasification plant would not be built, but that would have allowed the companies listed their stocks go up 11 to 18 euros on the Madrid stock exchange, while the then chairman of Repsol, Alfonso Cortina, 'going to get much money in their pockets' 'El Diario', 11/01/2006).

pointed out that the shares of Royal Dutch giant Shell two days fell 7.5% in the stock market in London, to prove that he was fraudulently increasing its reserves, which caused the company a loss of 10 billion dollars. Shell had also lied to the SEC, to inflate its reserves 'by mistake' at 3.900 million barrels equivalent of oil and gas. ("La Prensa", 5/3/2005). Shell's conduct was compared with that of Enron. The paradox is that the Enron-Shell company integrates Transredes, which handles almost all oil, gas and pipelines in the country.

At current export prices gas to Brazil (3 dollars per thousand cubic feet), a TCF generates an economic turnover of 3,000 million dollars. Consequently, the 48 tcfs of Bolivia, mobilize U.S. $ 168 billion. Of these reserves, Repsol in Bolivia controls about 13 TCFS, with a potential of 39 billion dollars. Amounts entered quadruple if one considers that the price of thousand cubic feet in the U.S. market reaches $ 12. For now, only 9 TCFS have contracts and guaranteed markets in Brazil, Argentina and Bolivia)

Repsol has said that the 'sovereign concessions', existing in Argentina, Libya, Algeria and Iran are also registered in their name. Must await the reaction in these countries, but in Bolivia, the State Constitution, Article 139, says: "The hydrocarbon deposits, whatever the state in which they are or how they arise, are domain 'direct, inalienable and state. No grant or contract may vest ownership of oil fields ... ' 01/21/2006