Petrobras cancelled the renewal of four rig contracts: Seadrill – West Taurus contract ending this month and West Eminence with contract ending in July 2015. People in the know say daily rate was above present market conditions. Diamond Offshore – Ocean Baroness contract ending in September 2015. Diamond tried to negotiate a 3 year extension.... Continue Reading →

Petrobras Cut to Junk by Moody’s as Probe Hobbles Oil Producer By Filipe Pacheco Sabrina Valle 9:08 PM BRT  February 24, 2015    (Bloomberg) -- Petroleo Brasileiro SA’s descent into junk-bond status may be far from over. Moody’s Investors Service kept a negative outlook on the state-controlled oil producer’s rating after cutting it to Ba2,... Continue Reading →

The 0-for-27 Tally on Debt Ratings Seen Worsening: Brazil Credit  by Filipe Pacheco Ney Hayashi Cruz 1:43 AM BRT  February 25, 2015    (Bloomberg) -- To appreciate just how bad things are in Brazil, consider this: its companies have suffered 27 rating downgrades in the first two months of the year. The number of upgrades? Zero.... Continue Reading →

Moody’s Cuts Petrobras’s Debt to Junk Ratings firm said it is keeping its review of Brazil-controlled energy company on review for downgrade By PAULO TREVISANI Updated Feb. 24, 2015 7:32 p.m. ET BRASÍLIA—Moody’s Investors Service said Tuesday it downgraded Petróleo Brasileiro SA ’s debt to junk status. The embattled energy company controlled by the Brazilian government and... Continue Reading →

Builder Mata Pires Becomes Brazil's Latest Ex-Billionaire By Blake Schmidt Sabrina Valle 11:45 AM BRT February 24, 2015 (Bloomberg) -- Cesar Mata Pires amassed one of Brazil’s biggest fortunes by building World Cup stadiums, offshore oil platforms and highways from Haiti to Angola. At its peak in 2014, Mata Pires’s net worth stood at $7... Continue Reading →

Brazil Prosecutors seek $1.6 Billion From Builders in Graft Case by Sabrina Valle 1:21 PM UYST  February 20, 2015      (Bloomberg) -- Some of Brazil’s biggest building companies were targeted for the first time in an investigation into alleged kickbacks at Petroleo Brasileiro SA, with prosecutors seeking 4.47 billion reais ($1.6 billion) in compensation.... Continue Reading →

Multinationals named, so far, in the Petrobras corruption investigation It is not just the local Brazilian suppliers that are involved in the graft investigations at Petobras but the following multinationals have been named and will be investigated by their governments, the SEC and the US Justice Dept.: Dutch SMB, Swede Skanska, Korean Samsung Heavy Industries,... Continue Reading →

 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/281a3d6a-b601-11e4-a577-00144feab7de.html#ixzz3RwXU7DCj February 16, 2015 6:43 pm Rolls-Royce vows to co-operate with Petrobras investigation Peggy Hollinger, Industry Editor Rolls-Royce has said it will co-operate with Brazilian authorities if they press ahead with an investigation into allegations that it paid bribes to win a contract from Petrobras, the state-owned oil company at the heart of a spiralling corruption scandal. The British engineering company... Continue Reading →