TOKYO (AFP) - Bolivian President Evo Morales, whose country sits on South America's second largest gas reserves, said Thursday he opposed the idea of a gas cartel along the lines of OPEC.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a close ally of Bolivia's left-leaning leader, has called on South America's gas producers including Bolivia and Argentina to band together to protect their interests.
Venezuela was a founder of OPEC, or the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
"I have great respect for President Chavez's proposal," Morales told reporters on a visit to major energy importer Japan.
But he added: "Such organizations shouldn't impose policies on countries that do not produce gas or any other product."
A cooperation deal reached in August between Russian gas monopoly Gazprom and Algeria's state-owned energy company Sonatrach had raised fears among some Western nations of a new "gas OPEC" that could control prices and supply.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose government has cashed in on high gas prices, has also welcomed the idea of a gas OPEC.
But Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous president, likened other countries' gas needs to his own efforts to bring drinking water to his landlocked country.
"Energy is important for the lives of human beings. It should serve to resolve problems not only for producer countries but also for those countries that are not producers," he said.
Morales, who has taken state control of natural resources since assuming office last year, was wrapping up a four-day visit to the world's second largest economy during which he courted Japanese investors.
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