Brazilian federal police said on Tuesday they were completing two arrest warrants as part of a corruption investigation into Eletronuclear, a subsidiary of state-run electric utility Eletrobras. The investigation that had previously focused on graft at state-run oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA is investigating price fixing and cartel formation at the Angra 3 nuclear reactor,... Continue Reading →
Junk Bondholders Weigh Emerging-Market Exit
The portion of emerging-market companies in Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Global High Yield Index has swelled since they were first included four years ago. Petroleo Brasileiro SA became the biggest index member after the Brazilian oil producer was cut to junk by Moody’s Investors Service in February, with $44 billion of debt, according to Bank of America. Russian... Continue Reading →
BP Profit Misses Estimates
BP Plc reported second-quarter profit that missed analyst estimates after a boom in trading faded and the conflict in Libya forced almost $600 million of writedowns. Profit adjusted for one-time items and inventory changes dropped 64 percent from a year earlier to $1.3 billion, BP said Tuesday. That missed the $1.7 billion average estimate of... Continue Reading →
Brazil Port Town’s Boom-to-Bust Is Window Into What Went Wrong
Santos Port has always been known as Brazil’s gateway to the world. Now, it’s also a window into what went wrong in Latin America’s biggest economy. Exports from Santos have tumbled as demand from China sags. Companies betting on a boon as massive offshore oil finds were developed are now scaling back after Petroleo Brasileiro... Continue Reading →
Statoil Profit Beats Estimates
Statoil ASA, Norway’s biggest oil and gas producer, posted second-quarter profit that beat estimates as higher production, lower costs and refining margins helped it to weather a plunge in crude prices. Net income excluding financial and other items fell to 7.2 billion kroner ($878 million) from 9.9 billion kroner a year earlier, the Stavanger-based company... Continue Reading →
Pemex tied by accounting Catch 22
Mexico’s Pemex, battered by the oil price crash and on track to report its 11th consecutive quarterly loss on Tuesday, has found a way to improve its balance sheet. But its plan to bring in private equity funds to finance 15 offshore infrastructure projects and investments worth more than $7bn has landed it in an accounting Catch... Continue Reading →
Bloomberg – Oil Majors Delay U$200 Billion in Investments
Oil Majors Delay $200 Billion of Spending, Wood Mackenzie Says by Stephen Bierman July 27, 2015 — 7:28 AM BRT Global oil and natural-gas producers have delayed $200 billion of investment in more than 45 projects following the slump in crude prices, according to Wood Mackenzie Ltd. The deferrals “create a substantial hole in the... Continue Reading →
Brazil’s biggest party sticks with unpopular Rousseff – for now
Brazil's largest party is standing by deeply unpopular President Dilma Rousseff for now despite the defection of one of its own leaders, but that could change if an expected recession stirs up social unrest, party leaders say. Rousseff is struggling to save her presidency amid the worst economic downturn in 25 years and a political... Continue Reading →
Bond Traders Problems Persist in Brazil
Bond investors in Brazil just can’t catch a break. After being burned by a bribery scandal at the country’s state-owned oil company, they were buffeted again last week when federal prosecutors probing Brazil’s national development bank said the lender lost out an estimated $2 billion by setting interest rates too low for risky borrowers. The... Continue Reading →
Oil Bear Market Punishes Petrobras Shares
The slide of crude into a bear market sank Petroleo Brasileiro SA, sending the Ibovespa to the longest rout since February 2013. Petrobras, the oil producer at the center of Brazil’s largest corruption scandal, extended a seven-day plunge to 17 percent. Crude traded in New York fell more than 20 percent from its June high... Continue Reading →
Brazil Energy Insight 