President Michel Temer's proposal to reform Brazil's costly social security system cleared a committee vote on Wednesday, but the measure, deeply unpopular with voters, faces an uphill battle in the full Congress. The committee voted 23-14 to approve the constitutional amendment, which would make Brazilians work longer and reduce pension benefits to plug a widening... Continue Reading →

Statoil ASA, Norway’s biggest oil and gas producer, rose the most in five months after first-quarter profit climbed on higher output amid recovering crude prices and as it deepened cost cuts to emerge from a downturn that has battered the industry for more than two years. Adjusted earnings after tax, a measure that excludes financial... Continue Reading →

  With rig owners and investors looking to scoop up assets at more realistic – but still low – values, transaction activity is picking up. And it’s set to continue. We’ve been saying it for a few months: the offshore market looks better than it did six months ago.  But there’s still a lot more improvement... Continue Reading →

Baker Hughes has introduced its DEEPFRAC deepwater multistage fracturing service, which, the company claims, can save operators hundreds of millions of dollars in offshore developments through efficiency gains across the completion phase. Baker Hughes said that the service uses multiposition sleeves and patented flowback control technology to accelerate or eliminate certain steps of conventional multizone... Continue Reading →

Royal Dutch Shell Plc plans to focus on three bidders this month for its downstream oil assets in Argentina after receiving eight non-binding offers of $1 billion to $2 billion, people with knowledge of the matter said. The shortlisted bidders will enter the second phase of the sales process, which includes an oil refinery and... Continue Reading →

May 2 Brazil's economy will post growth of between 0.7 percent and 0.8 percent in the first quarter, turning the corner on a two-year recession, Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles said on Tuesday. In an interview with GloboNews cable channel, Meirelles said Brazilian companies will have to start to restock inventories and draw up investment plans.... Continue Reading →

Brazilian prosecutors said on Tuesday they had laid new corruption charges against a one-time chief of staff for former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is already serving long jail sentences on other graft convictions. Prosecutors accused Jose Dirceu, who was released from jail pending an appeal, of taking 2.4 million reais ($755,880) in... Continue Reading →