Petrobras announced today that it has signed a Transition Agreement under the natural gas supply contract with Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB). Under the new agreement, the gas supply will be adopted a transition period from January 1 to March 10, 2020, in Bolivia's gas supply.
Until then, Petrobras and YPFB will "continue the negotiation process with the aim of changing certain trading conditions, in line with the opening process of the Brazilian natural gas market and the new Bolivian market context", according to the note published by the Brazilian state-owned company.
The crisis in Bolivia, which led to the overthrow of the government of Evo Morales, now in exile in Mexico, altered the negotiations between Brazil and Bolivia. Now, who is negotiating with Brazil is Bolivia's Hydrocarbon Minister, Victor Hugo Zamora, who is in Rio de Janeiro for talks with Brazilian authorities.
Bolsonaro and Evo Morales were in diametrically opposed ideological fields. Now, with the arrival of military and evangelicals in Bolivia, after a coup d'état, Brazil and Bolivia now have two governments that are very similar. Both in Brazil and Bolivia, who commands today are religious rights very close to the military forces of both countries.
It is also good to remember that 83% of the gas that Brazil imports come from Bolivia.
