Petroleum Argus boosts its Latin American presence.

With the acquisition last week of Latin American Energy Alert (24x, $659/year) and Latin American Power Watch (12x, $585/year), 30-year-old Petroleum Argus becomes a premier publishing firm in the Latin American energy industry.

Its two dozen newsletters already position the company as a major source of information on the energy markets in South America, Central America, and the Caribbean. They include Argus LatAm Energy and Argus Latin Markets.

With offices in London, Moscow, Singapore, Houston and other locations around the world, Argus Petroleum also covers the energy markets in the former Soviet Union, the United States, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.

Petroleum Argus publisher is London-based Adrian Binks, and U.S. bureau chief is Houston-based Daniel C. Massey.

Petroleum Argus purchased the newsletters from Target Research LLC, also a major source of information on Latin America-including the 1998-acquired business and political newsletter CubaNews.

In addition to publishing, Target Research-Jason Freer, publisher-offers a variety of analytical and research services, tailored to individual clients, on risk assessment, commercial intelligence gathering, and political consulting.