The Great Game in South America:
Making good on his main campaign pledge, Bolivia’s President Evo Morales ordered troops to occupy the country’s oil and natural gas fields on Monday and issued a decree giving the government majority control over the energy industry.
"The pillaging of our resources by transnational companies is over," Morales said in a speech at the San Alberto gas field in southern Bolivia. "From this day forward, all hydrocarbons in the country are nationalized."
Bolivian military seizes oil, gas fields, Houston Chronicle
Kudos to a politician that does hold to his campaign pledges.
Given the 300% price surge in hydrocarbons since 2001, the foreign companies hit by this will not achieve lower profit in Bolivia than they did three years ago.
The decree raised taxes and royalties on the largest gas fields to 82 percent from 50 percent.
The 50% of some $25 per barrel three years ago is less that the 18% of some $75 per barrel these companies will get now. But of course the foreign exploration companies would have prefered to take 50% of $75 instead of having to chip the spoil over to the Bolivian people.
Morales is lucky that the major foreign companies involved are Brasilian, British and Spanish. Exxon-Mobile is there too, but to them it’s "small potatoes".
Otherwise immediate regime change would be nessessary.
For now Morales will have to stay third in line behind Ahmadinjad and Chavez.