BRASILIA, Brazil, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- Brazil and Argentina are discussing cooperation on nuclear and oil issues.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Argentina's visiting president-elect, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, discussed cooperation in nuclear power generation and oil exploration during talks Monday.
"The nuclear power issue was raised, but only as a possibility, in terms of the subject of energy," said Franklin Martins, Brazil's information minister. Cooperation on oil exploration was the more important issue, said Lula's special adviser Marco Aurelio Garcia.
"The president focused on the need for cooperation between both countries' national energy companies Enarsa and Petrobras, including deep water oil exploration," Garcia said.
Natural gas also came up in discussions, including the need to coordinate with Bolivia on supply issues. Also on the agenda was the construction of a bilateral hydroelectric plant at Garabi on the Uruguay River. That will be discussed in a meeting in February when Fernandez is set to take office. Both leaders agreed to create a commission that will meet twice a year to enforce the decisions made during their talks. Other participants in the talks were Brazilian Energy Minister Nelson Hubner and Nestor Cervero, the director of international operations of Petrobras.
