Bolivia, Uruguay and Paraguay sign natural gas pipeline accord
The presidents of Bolivia, Uruguay and Paraguay agreed on Wednesday to study a project for a natural gas pipeline linking the three South American nations, according to reports from Asuncion.

The initiative was proposed by Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez at a one-day energy summit among the four nations in the Paraguayan capital Asuncion, where he joined Evo Morales of Bolivia, Tabare Vazquez of Uruguay and Nicanor Duarte of Paraguay to discuss energy cooperation.

The proposed pipeline would carry gas from Tarija in Bolivia, to Uruguay, passing through Casado in Paraguay. It would be 6,000-km long and would cost around 450 million U.S. dollars.

The Presidents of Bolivia, Uruguay and Paraguay agreed at the meeting to "form a three-nation commission to start the feasibility and cost study straight away" and said that they would make the results of the study known by the end of the year, according to the reports.

Chavez said that his nation was willing to offer technical and financial support for the study and the construction of the pipeline.

The project is the second gas pipeline promoted by Chavez. Last year, he agreed with Brazil and Argentina to explore the idea of building a so-called "Great Southern Gas Pipeline," an 8,000-km line designed to link Venezuela to Argentina, passing through Brazil, at a projected cost of 20 billion dollars.

Chavez said that there would be a second phase under which the two projects would "converge under the South American energy cone concept."

At the same meeting Paraguay and Bolivia signed an agreement to work together on industrializing natural gas projects and building a pipeline between their two countries.

The three nations also said in their agreements that the projects had to get underway quickly, as the governments were obliged to seek multilateral financing within 120 days, according to the reports.