Chavez tour ends in energy deals

The presidents of Bolivia, Venezuela and Argentina have signed joint energy deals worth more than $1bn in Bolivia.

The accords come at the end of a regional tour by Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez. He signed bilateral energy deals in the four countries he visited.
During his trip, Mr Chavez has repeatedly attacked the US for trying to dominate world energy supplies.

He has pledged to use Venezuela’s oil wealth to help guarantee the energy needs of his allies in Latin America.

Mr Chavez, his Bolivian counterpart Evo Morales and Argentina’s leader Nestor Kirchner met in the southern Bolivian city of Tarija.

Mr Morales and Mr Kirchner finalised a $450m agreement to build a gas processing plant in the border region of Chaco and in the Amazon region north of La Paz.

This deal came after Mr Chavez signed an accord with Mr Morales on Thursday to create a $600m joint venture, Petroandina, formed by Venezuela’s state-run oil company PDVSA and Bolivia’s state energy company YPFB.

BBC