Brazil's inflation rate slowed more than expected in mid-January, falling below 6 percent for the first time in nearly three years and reinforcing market bets on steep interest rate cuts by the central bank. Consumer prices as measured by the IPCA-15 index rose 5.94 percent in the 12 months to mid-January, slowing from an... Continue Reading →
Petrobras accepts pay raise demand, in exchange for fewer hours
Jan 18 Brazil's state-controlled oil company Petrobras said on Wednesday it accepted a demand from workers for an 8.5 percent pay raise retroactive to September, a move that could eliminate the threat of a strike. The raise, however, would depend on workers accepting possible cuts in work hours, the company said. (Reporting by Marta Nogueira;... Continue Reading →
Fire reported at Petrobras refinery in Rio; production impacted
Jan 18 Fire was reported on Wednesday at the Reduc refinery in the state of Rio de Janeiro controlled by Brazil's state-run oil firm Petrobras, with impact on production, a local oil workers union said. Flames had reached one of the three distillation units at Reduc, located in Duque de Caxias, in Rio's metropolitan... Continue Reading →
Petrobras to appeal ruling suspending Libra platform bidding
Petróleo Brasileiro SA will appeal a court decision that suspended bidding for the lease of a first floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) platform for the giant Libra off-shore oil field, the company said on Wednesday. The Brazilian shipbuilders association Sinaval obtained an injunction suspending the bidding process based on its argument that the auction... Continue Reading →
Guyana government to form petroleum directorate
zoomGuyana Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman; Image source: GINA After oil discoveries offshore Guyana came into the spotlight in recent months, the Ministry of Natural Resources has decided to form a Petroleum Directorate. Guyana and its oil prospects have received a lot of attention in recent months after the U.S. oil giant ExxonMobil declared... Continue Reading →
Rolls-Royce Concludes Bribery Settlements in U.S., U.K., Brazil
Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc won approval from a U.K. judge for its settlement with British prosecutors as the U.S. Justice Department unsealed a parallel agreement with the company in Ohio the day after the company announced it would pay $800 million in total to resolve bribery probes in both countries as well as Brazil. In London,... Continue Reading →
UPDATE 1-Petrobras closes $4 billion bond issuance
Brazil's state-controlled oil company Petrobras on Tuesday closed a $4 billion issuance of 5 and 10-year notes in international markets as part of the debt-laden company's efforts to term out upcoming maturities, it said in a statement. The order book was five and four times oversubscribed in the 5 year and 10-year tranche, respectively, with... Continue Reading →
Brazil’s Odebrecht settling bribe cases in 12 countries
Brazil's largest engineering conglomerate Odebrecht SA [ODBES.UL] plans to reach settlements in all 12 countries where it has admitted to paying bribes to obtain contracts, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Tuesday. The family-owned firm signed a $1.94 billion leniency deal with U.S., Swiss and Brazilian prosecutors in December for its... Continue Reading →
Brazil may hold second sub-salt oil licensing round this year
Brazil may hold a second licensing round this year for new oil exploration areas in an offshore region known as the sub-salt where massive discoveries have been made, the Energy Ministry said on Tuesday, as it looks to spur economic growth. Seeking to attract investment and avoid a third year of recession in 2017, the... Continue Reading →
Brazil firms shun Trump fears in busiest debt, stock window in years
Brazil's busiest pipeline of bond and equity offerings in at least six years is being fueled by increasing investor confidence in the country's ability to emerge from a harsh recession and shrug off global market turmoil, bankers said. In what the bankers say is a window for offerings that opened last week and may extend... Continue Reading →
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