President of energy company Petrobras, Jose Fernando de Freitas, and Bolivia's Hydrocarbons Minister, Carlos Villegas, met to discuss the purchase of two Bolivian refineries on Wednesday, according to news reaching Lima.

On Monday, Petrobras, which is owned by the Brazilian government, gave Bolivia 48 hours to reach an agreement on the price of the plants, which had been formally nationalized on May 1, 2006, but had remained under Petrobras control until last week.

Petrobras wants 215 million U.S. dollars for the facilities, plus the price of the stored refinery products, while Bolivia is only willing to pay 70 million U.S. dollars.

The situation became critical on Sunday, when Bolivian legislators approved a decree transferring all Bolivian gasoline production to Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales Bolivianos (Ypfb).

If no agreement is possible, Petrobras will go to international arbitration over the two plants in the Valle Hermoso in the central Bolivia department of Cochabamba, and Palmasola, in the eastern department of Santa Cruz.