They still can't get anything through the parliament-no hydrocarbon law, no de-Baathification law, no provincial elections.

Bolivia's major parties, save for Mr. Morales's, have also signed an accord that sets an agenda for the president that includes a new hydrocarbon law.

"The hydrocarbon law is of enormous importance, and I think it is reasonably doable as well," General Petraeus said in the interview.

In Summer, 2008, the nation's Parliament still had not produced a comprehensive "hydrocarbon law" (oil law) apportioning revenue between local governorates and the central government.

To help achieve this objective, Tunisia introduced a new hydrocarbon law (Law 99/93) that includes incentives with favorable fiscal regulations and additional legal flexibility of licensing procedures and terms.

They also say that measures like the recently approved hydrocarbon law, which increases royalties for private investors and gives the government a majority stake in joint ventures, will discourage the foreign investment necessary for developing new projects.

Iraq's government recently passed a hydrocarbon law to redevelop its crippled oil and gas sector.

Several United States senators had criticized the deal, arguing it was hindering efforts to pass the hydrocarbon law.

Ecuador, for example, wants a larger share of revenue from foreign oil companies and recently approved a new hydrocarbon law that amounts to a unilateral breach of production contracts.

The government was working to introduce new mineral and hydrocarbon laws that would meet international standards of governance.