Brazilian police seized documents and questioned suspects on Thursday to investigate Panama's FPB Bank in connection to a sweeping graft probe of political corruption at state-run companies. Police said FPB Bank was under investigation for "financial crimes, laundering of assets and transnational criminal organization" for offering private banking services without the authorization of Brazil's central... Continue Reading →
Lost Generation of Oil Workers Leaves Few Options for Next Boom
The oil industry is fighting a generation gap. Already contending with a global price slump, U.S. explorers are also grappling with the demographic hangover of the last great industry downturn in the 1980s, when scores of drillers went out of business. That rout drove a generation away from the business, leaving a shortage of workers... Continue Reading →
Brazil’s Rousseff gives impassioned defense against impeachment
Suspended Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff attends a news conference with foreign media in Brasilia, Brazil, June 14, 2016. REUTERS/UESLEI MARCELINO Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff presented her written defense to a Senate impeachment trial on Wednesday, denouncing the proceedings as a farce and saying her alleged crimes were no more than "routine acts of budgetary management."... Continue Reading →
Petrobras oil output in the pre-salt cluster surpasses 1 million barrels per day
This result was reached less than ten years after these deposits were discovered, in 2006. And in fewer than two years after reaching the 500,000-barrel-per-day mark, in July 2014. This proves not only the technical and economic feasibility of the pre-salt, but also its high level of productivity. In comparative terms, we reached the... Continue Reading →
Brazilian Currency Drops as Central Bank Extends Intervention
Brazil’s real dropped for a fourth straight session as the central bank once again intervened to weaken the currency. The real fell 0.9 percent to 3.3325 per dollar at 9:50 a.m. in Sao Paulo after the monetary authority announced it would offer 10,000 reverse swaps contracts, a move equivalent to buying $500 million in the... Continue Reading →
Meanwhile back at the farm…Lula presses to remove crusading Brazil judge from his case
Brazil's former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva attends a protest against Brazil's interim President Michel Temer and in support of suspended President Dilma Rousseff at Paulista Avenue in Sao Paulo, Brazil, June 10, 2016. REUTERS/PAULO WHITAKER Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's lawyers asked on Tuesday that crusading federal judge Sergio Moro be removed from... Continue Reading →
Brazil 2017 subsalt oil rights sale to unlock stalled fields
Brazil on Tuesday said it will sell four areas in its prolific subsalt region by mid-2017 to speed up development of offshore oil and gas discoveries blocked by nationalist energy policies and state-run Petrobras' debt and financial woes. One of the areas will abut the giant Carcará prospect in the BM-S-8 block in Brazil's offshore... Continue Reading →
Chevron Bets $37 Billion on Expansion as Oil Rises, Costs Fall
Chevron Corp. will go ahead with a $36.8 billion expansion of the Tengiz oil project in Kazakhstan as crude’s recovery to near $50 a barrel and a steep drop in costs allows explorers to ramp up. The company and its partners including Exxon Mobil Corp. will spend $27.1 billion on facilities, $3.5 billion on wells... Continue Reading →
Petrobras -Sale of Shallow Water Assets
Rio de Janeiro, July 4, 2016 – Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras announces that it has started the process of transfer of rights of oil and natural gas exploration, development and production in shallow water fields in the states of Ceará and Sergipe. Nine concessions are being offered, which had an average production of 13... Continue Reading →
Petrobras to sell ‘junk’ fields as big finds delayed
Workers repair a tank of Brazil's state-run Petrobras oil company in Cubatao, Brazil, April 12, 2016. REUTERS/PAULO WHITAKER Petrobras' plans to sell 'junk' oil fields off the coast of Brazil's Sergipe and Ceara states will do little to boost the economic prospects of the regions, hampered by company cutbacks and delays at larger discoveries nearby,... Continue Reading →
Brazil Energy Insight 