Weekly Report - 11 April 2006

SOUTHERN CONE | Gas supply vulnerabilities surface. Brazil was forced last week to impose rationing on the use of natural gas after a combination of adverse weather conditions and regional politics interrupted the supply from Bolivia's second-largest gas deposit, San Antonio, in the southern department of Tarija. Argentina was formally warned by the Bolivian government that it might also see its supplies cut back. The problems began when, as a result of heavy rainfall, a pipeline operated by Petrobrás sprang a leak on 2 April. Repair work was prevented by roadblocks set up by people from Gran Chaco province demanding that boundaries be redrawn so as to give them jurisdiction over Bolivia's largest gas deposit, Margarita (currently in O'Connor province).