Brazilian state energy company Petrobras called for negotiations on the two refineries which it lost through nationalization in Bolivia, adding that if no agreement is reach, it will go to international courts, announced the company's President Jose Sergio Gabrielli on Monday.

He said he had made a last offer to Bolivia over the issue, adding "we expect to reach an agreement right away." He said this means a final agreement within two or three days.

Unless an agreement is reached, Petrobras could turn to international arbitration or take the government to court in Bolivian courts.

Petrobras has been seeking around 200 million U.S. dollars for two refineries nationalized by the Bolivian government on May 1, 2006. Bolivia is offering only 60 million dollars.

Gabrielli did not mention the final total for the final offer, but he did say he was confident the Bolivian government would accept.

He said the decision was taken after Bolivian authorities declared that the Bolivian state company Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB) would have a monopoly on crude and gasoline exports, a move Gabrielli described as expropriating private companies' cash flow.

Petrobras acquired the two refineries -- in Cochabamba and Santa Cruz -- in a 1994 Bolivian government licensing bid and paid 104 million dollars for them. He added that without an agreement there would probably be "no climate" for the investments the Brazilian company had programmed for Bolivia.

Source: Xinhua