Bridas Corporation

Bridas Corporation was founded by the Bulgheroni family in 1948, and grew to become the second-largest producer of fossil fuels in Argentina (after the state-owned YPF), with production of over 78 million boe in 2004. Bridas has focused in the South America Southern Cone and Central Asia. Its activities includes four principal areas of operations:

exploration and development of oil and gas reserves and the production of oil and gas;

marketing and transportation of oil, gas and oil products;

gathering, treatment, processing and distribution of gas and power generation;

Trans-Afghanistan pipeline controversy

Bridas began expanding into the Central Asian energy sector in 1987, and secured its first large-scale contract (gas exploration rights in Turkmenistan), in 1992. Between 1995 and 1997, CEO Carlos Bulgheroni was personally involved in negotiations between Bridas and the governments of Pakistan and Turkmenistan, as well as the ruling Taliban faction in Afghanistan, to build the Trans-Afghanistan Gas Pipeline. These negotiations were in competition with those undertaken by Unocal, and although an agreement with Unocal-led corporation CentGas was reached, the deal was forfeited in January 1998 in favor of one with Bridas. Instability in Afghanistan delayed construction of the pipeline. In 2006, Bulgheroni indicated interest in Bridas' involvement with the Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline project, which continued to be hampered by the ongoing war in the Central Asian nation.