Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva received the governor of the Argentine province of Cordoba, José Manoel de la Sota. The governor came to invite Brazilian oil company Petrobras to participate in an international call to tender to be opened in May to explore oil and natural gas in the region.
According to de la Sota, research in the region in the 1970s guaranteed the existence of oil in the province, but, at the time, companies considered production too expensive. "Now, with the new oil prices all around the world, we believe that this will change," stated the governor.
José Manoel de la Sota is to meet with Petrobras president José Sérgio Gabrielli. For the next week, a talk is scheduled including the presence of Petrobras representatives and technicians who worked on studies for the international call to tender in Buenos Aires, the Argentine capital.
"We would greatly appreciate Petrobras' presence as it is the Brazilian state-owned company. Argentina no longer has a state-owned company. YPF [Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales] is now in the hands of Repsol, which is a multinational.
"The other companies are private and, as we, from Córdoba, feel that we are part of the Mercosur, we would like Petrobras, which is a Brazilian state-owned oil company, to participate actively in exploration and export of gas and oil from Córdoba," said de la Sota.
ABr
