The presidents of four South American countries promised on Thursday to respect Bolivia's plan to nationalize its energy industry and also agreed to negotiate future gas prices bilaterally.

After a four-hour emergency summit in the Argentine city of Puerto Iguazu, the leaders of Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela and Bolivia came up with a joint statement, pledging to keep talks so as to avoid a regional dispute sparked by Bolivia's nationalization decision.

Emerging from the meeting, Argentine President Nestor Kirchner, Bolivian President Evo Morales, Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez were keen to stress solidarity among the South American countries.

"In this meeting, any concerns the presidents may have had have been dispelled," Morales told a press conference.

"In terms of price, the document is absolutely clear," Kirchner said. "It says that bilateral meetings will be the means to resolve price discussion between countries."

In the joint statement, the four nations underlined "their commitment to deepening political and energy integration" in the region, Kirchner said.

The presidents discussed Bolivia's decision to nationalize the country's fossil fuel resources, and concluded that "energy integration is an essential element in improving the life of (the region's) people," said Kirchner.

In addition, Morales told reporters that the presidents "all agreed to aid Bolivia economically."

Morales unveiled the plan to nationalize Bolivia's natural gas sector on Monday, ordering all foreign companies to accept new operation contracts within 180 days or quit the country.

Under the plan, Bolivia's state-owned oil company, Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB), will control all natural gas fields in Bolivia and pay foreign companies for their services.

About 20 foreign firms are exploring Bolivia's gas reserves, including Spanish-Argentine Repsol-YPF, Brazil's government-run Petrobras, Britain's BG Group PLC and France's Total.

In response to the plan, Argentina and Brazil, both importing a large amount of Bolivia's gas, called an emergency meeting to address the issue.

On Wednesday, Petrobras announced it would cut off all new petroleum investment in Bolivia, where it has spent 1.6 billion U.S. dollars over the last decade. But after Thursday's summit, the Brazilian president suggested that Petrobras could reverse course.

The leaders also agreed on the importance of regional unity ahead of the meetings between Mercosur members and the European Union and said they would work together to promote "joint investments that will favor Bolivia's integrated development."

Morales, who took office in January as Bolivia's first Indian president, has repeatedly said his country's natural resources must be nationalized so that Bolivians could benefit from the profits that were sent overseas.

Bolivia has a reserve of about 48.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, the second largest in South America after Venezuela.

Source: Xinhua