BRAZIL: INB EXPORTS NUCLEAR FUELS AND PARTS
Gazeta Mercantil, 12 Apr 2000, p. A-9:-
 The Brazilian state-owned nuclear power company INB (Industrias Nucleares do 
Brasil) is exporting fuels elements (modules for uranium tablet storage in 
nuclear power stations) to the US company Westinghouse.
The company also has a contract to export uranium powder to the German 
company Siemens, being 150 tonnes in 5 years.
INB is also negotiating with the French company Cogema to export the excess 
production of its plant in the city of Resende (state of Rio de Janeiro), 
expecting to sign the contract soon. The plant has capacity to produce 160 
tonnes of uranium powder yearly, power stations Angra 1 and 2 of INB only 
consume 50 tonnes yearly. INB started to produce uranium powder on April 11th 
2000.


BRAZIL: ANEEL TO EXPLAIN ELECTRICITY PRICE
O Estado de S.Paulo, 12 Apr 2000, p. b-10:-
 A request of the deputy Renildo Leal will be voted on April 11th 2000 by the 
Energy and Mining Commission of the Brazilian House of Representatives by 
which the criteria which were used to concede prices increases to Brazilian 
electricity generation and distribution companies will have to be explained 
by the director general of the Brazilian National Electric Energy Agency 
(Aneel), Jose Mario Abdo.


BRAZIL: CPC INTERESTED IN OIL/GAS EXPLORATION
Folha de S.Paulo, 12 Apr 2000, p. 2-2:-
 The Chinese Petroleum Corporation (CPC) paid the amount of US$ 150,000 on 
April 11th 2000 to participate of the tender for the concession to explore 
and produce oil and natural gas in an area in the Brazilian Campos Basin, in 
the state of Rio de Janeiro. This tender will be held on June 7th.


ARGENTINA: CARREFOUR ADVANCES IN PETROL
America Economia, 6 Apr 2000, p. 25-27:-
 The French hypermarket chain, Carrefour, wants to sell its own brand of 
petrol in Argentina. Although reluctant to give details, the company says it 
will respect its current contract with Eg3 until it runs out. Carrefour 
currently has 12 self-service petrol stations adjacent to hypermarkets in the 
country selling between 20,000 and 30,000 litres daily at a cost 12% below 
the market average. With 4 more stations to be added soon, Carrefour is 
paving the way to repeat its success in France. Although economic advisors to 
Repsol/YPF (owners of Eg3) maintain that Carrefour can not make money from 
selling petrol at cheaper prices, a Carrefour spokesmen maintained that if it 
were not profitable, they wouldn't be doing it. 
Petrol sells at US$ 1.13 the litre in Argentina, the highest in Latin 
America. The big players there, Repsol-YPF, Shell and Esso, tend to adjust 
prices upwards when international prices rise but not the reverse when they 
go down. Carrefour plans are being applauded by the government and consumers 
alike.


BRAZIL: VENEZUELAN OIL REFINING IN BRAZIL
O Estado de S.Paulo, 12 Apr 2000, p. B-2:-
 There is a rumour affirming that the project to install a refinery of the 
Venezuelan oil company PDVSA in the Brazilian Northeast region began to be 
discussed again when the Brazilian president Fernando Henrique Cardoso 
visited Venezuela.
But such rumour is not confirmed by the Brazilian state-owned oil company 
Petrobras.


URUGUAY: UTE-ANCAP ALLIANCE
El Observador, 11 Apr 2000, p. on line:-
 Uruguay's state-owned energy firm UTE and this country's oil company ANCAP 
will have to create an alliance to play as a holding in the negotiations they 
will face with the companies that are currently constructing the gas pipeline 
Cruz del Sur, which will link Argentina and Uruguay. The combined force of 
both companies may allow Uruguayan consumers to be benefited with lower 
prices and tariffs. The alliance was encouraged by Uruguay's president Jorge 
Batlle. UTE also announced it prefers to construct a new thermal station in 
Paysandu, Uruguay, instead of transforming one of its plants located on the 
Atlantic coast. The move will allow UTE to obtain reduced prices from gas 
suppliers, mainly Pan American Energy, TGS and British Gas, all of them 
partners in the Cruz del Sur project. UTE is studying three different 
alternatives of power stations. First, a 120 MW-180 MW thermal station, 
second, a 240 MW-340 MW station or a 800 MW thermal station in association 
with international firms interested in trading electr
icity to South Brazil.


BRAZIL: AZURIX KEEPS FORTIFYING
Gazeta Mercantil, 12 Apr 2000, p.C-6:-
 Azurix, a subsidiary of the American group Enron, keeps using the strategy 
of small investments to fortify in Brazil.
Geoplan, the subsidiary of Azurix which won the tender for water and sewerage 
supply in the city of Sao Jose do Rio Preto (Brazilian state of Sao Paulo), 
will start an audit, which was a condition for the concession, in the 
regional sanitary division of the city. The contract will be signed 15 days 
after the end of the audit.
According to the president of Azurix in Brazil, Flavio Godinho, although the 
company was not pre- qualified for the tender of privatisation of the 
Brazilian sanitation company Manaus Saneamento, Azurix will try to acquire 
Embasa (sanitation company of the state of Bahia) and Compesa (sanitation 
company of the state of Pernanbuco), which may have their tenders held by the 
end of 2000.


MEXICO: ENRON WIL BUILT NEW POWER PLANT
Excelsior, 11 Apr 2000, p.:-
 The new power plant of Enron in Monterrey, Mexico, will start its operations 
by the beginning of 2002.
The plant will have an installed capacity of 245 megawatts/hour and 210 
ton/hour of steam. The Groups Vitro and Imsa are the first companies in 
signing an agreement with Enron. Mr. Max Izaguirre, president of Enron 
Mexico, said that there is still power capacity for a few other industrial 
companies that may be interested.
The companies signing the agreement will have to pay the monthly fee for the 
service and have to get at least one share in the Enron project, which does 
not mean that they have to be co-investors.
The Mexico power demand grows by an average of 6% every year. During the 
first quarter of 2000 the demand has grown substantially by 7.5%. The 
government projects the increase of the power generation by 22,000 megawatts 
within the next 7 to 8 years.