Brazil's top prosecutor has found evidence that a bribe scheme involving local engineering firms and the state oil company extended to pension funds and a workers' fund, benefiting the ruling Workers' Party and allies, newspaper Folha de S. Paulo reported on Friday. The paper said the potential new front in Brazil's largest-ever corruption investigation was... Continue Reading →
Petrobras – Clarification on News: Investment in 2016
01/07/2016 Rio de Janeiro, January 7, 2016 – Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras hereby responds to Official Letter 61/2016-SAE, which requests the following clarifications: Official Letter 61/2016-SAE “A news item published by Agência Estado – Broadcast on January 7, 2016 states, among other information, that: ü Petrobras’ budget this year will be R$75.6 billion, 9%... Continue Reading →
Shell’s BG Deal Gets Backing of Shareholder Advisory Firm
Royal Dutch Shell Plc has won the backing for its takeover of BG Group Plcfrom a body that advises many of its largest shareholders. Shell’s biggest ever deal has “compelling strategic rationale” and “significant positive economics to be realized within a relatively short time frame,” Institutional Shareholder Services said in a report dated Thursday. “Support for... Continue Reading →
Brazil prosecutors study text messages to Rousseff aide, Petrobras CEO: paper
Brazilian prosecutors are investigating text messages from an engineering executive that may show President Dilma Rousseff's chief of staff favored construction firms that donated to his party while he was state governor, the Estado de S. Paulo newspaper reported on Thursday. A separate set of messages from the same executive may indicate Aldemir Bendine, chief... Continue Reading →
Internal investigation of Brazil’s Eletrobras expands – source
An internal investigation of potential corruption at Brazil's state-run energy utility Eletrobras has expanded to include five more Brazilian hydroelectric dams, a source with access to the probe said. Lawyers investigating possible violations of U.S. and Brazilian anti-corruption laws hope to finish their work in March in order to deliver a delayed financial report to... Continue Reading →
Oil Producers Have $100 Billion Wiped Out in Worst Start to Year
Crude’s plunge keeps piling on the bad news for oil producers, who are having the worst start to a year on record. More than $100 billion has been wiped off the 61-company Bloomberg World Oil & Gas Index this year as it plunged to the lowest since August 2004. It has dropped 5.6 percent, making... Continue Reading →
Statoil Sees Risk of Deeper Slump as Oil Touches 12-Year Low
Statoil ASA, Norway’s biggest energy company, said an oil rout that’s pushed prices to a 12-year low may still get worse. “It could go even lower, and it just underlines the uncertainty,” Chief Executive Officer Eldar Saetre said in an interview in Oslo. “We still have a situation with an imbalance in the market.” West... Continue Reading →
Petrobras 5-year investment plan to make more cuts -paper
Thu Jan 7, 2016 Reuters Brazilian state-run oil company Petrobras will present a five-year investment plan in coming weeks that is even leaner than the $19 billion announced in October, newspaper Estado de S. Paulo reported on Thursday. The plan will likely be presented in February, the newspaper said, citing anonymous sources. In addition to... Continue Reading →
Sete Brasil Rig Venture Said to Mull Bankruptcy Filing in Brazil
Grupo BTG Pactual and other investors in a troubled drilling-rig supplier will meet this month and decide whether Sete Brasil Participacoes SA will file for bankruptcy protection after oil prices collapsed and it was cited in a sprawling corruption scandal, four people with direct knowledge of the matter said. Shareholders may vote to seek legal... Continue Reading →
OPEC Crude Oil Plunges Below $30 for First Time Since 2004
The price of crude sold by OPEC members slid below $30 a barrel, the lowest level in almost 12 years, as turmoil in Chinese markets deepened the global commodities rout. The daily basket price of crudes produced by the 13 members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries fell to $29.71 a barrel on Wednesday,... Continue Reading →
Brazil Energy Insight 