Petrobras and Resource Conflicts in South America.

In the last few years, a series of conflicts has arisen between Petrobras â€" the Brazilian oil company â€" and some governments and social actors in other South American countries where the company has investments in hidrocarbons. These conflicts have highlighted a double logic â€" statist and private at the same time â€" underlying Petrobras´ activities abroad. On the one hand, Petrobras is a mixed capital company (more than 50% of its capital belongs to private investors, but Brazilian government keeps company control), running operations in 24 countries (nine of them in South America). On the other hand, the company is an agent of Brazilian foreign policy, committed to the goals of regional integration and stability, being, in addition, the main responsible for Brazilian energy security. This article explores some of these contradictions against the background of the economic liberalization of the 90s (when the company started its operations abroad) and within the current scenario of challenges to neoliberal reforms and emerging “resource nationalism”. In the past decade, Petrobras’ internationalization benefited from privatization of other state-owned energy companies in South America, and from the opening of domestic markets to transnational corporations. With the the rise of governments hostile to the neoliberal model and the empowerment of social actors opposed to the Washington Consensus, Petrobras began to face serious difficulties in its regional operations. As a consequence, Brazilian foreign policy has had to deal with new and unexpected impasses. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]