French oil major Total posted a hefty increase in its adjusted net income for the first quarter of 2017, when compared to the first quarter of 2016. Presenting its results on Thursday, Total said its 1Q adjusted net income was $2.6 billion, a 56 percent increase compared to $1.6 billion a year ago. Read more

Brazil's lower house of Congress on Wednesday approved the main text of a bill to relax the country's restrictive labor laws, a main plank of President Michel Temer's efforts to bolster investment and pull the economy out of its worst recession ever. The measure passed by 296-177 in an expected victory to Temer who is... Continue Reading →

Brazil could decide to join the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) as soon as next month, officials told Reuters, as President Michel Temer seeks its seal of approval for reforms to Latin America's largest economy. Temer's intention to join the Paris-based think tank is his latest effort to strengthen ties with Western developed... Continue Reading →

Brazil’s Supreme Court recently gave its approval to prosecutors to investigate scores of senior political figures for alleged corruption, but the court itself will have to overcome some unusual challenges to put them on trial. Not least is its backlog—as of Tuesday—of 54,951 cases. Just last week, the court ruled on the long-running dispute about... Continue Reading →

The company on Tuesday posted earnings attributable to McDermott stockholders of $21.9 million for the first quarter of 2017, compared to a $2.2 million net loss in the corresponding period of 2016. There were no adjustments from GAAP for the $21.9 million net income in 1Q 2017, compared to an adjusted net income of $36.3 million,... Continue Reading →

Oilfield services provider Baker Hughes narrowed its net loss for the first quarter of 2017 compared to the prior-year period while its revenues declined by 15 percent.  Baker Hughes on Tuesday posted a net loss for the first quarter of 2017 of $129 million, compared to $417 million in the fourth quarter of 2016, and... Continue Reading →

Creditors of Odebrecht SA have agreed to not tap proceeds from the sale of a water and sanitation utility for early repayment of loans, giving the embattled Brazilian engineering conglomerate more time to restructure 76 billion reais ($24 billion) of obligations. In a Tuesday statement, Odebrecht [ODBES.UL] said lenders allowed it to keep the 2.5... Continue Reading →

The Brazilian government is evaluating setting biofuel mandates to fuel distributors with the aim of increasing consumption of renewable fuels and cutting carbon emissions, the country’s biofuels director Miguel de Oliveira said on Tuesday. Ethanol and biodiesel mills would issue certificates of emissions reductions (CERs) that would be transferred to fuel distributors when they buy... Continue Reading →

A bill that backers say will modernize Brazil's labor laws and ease employment rules for companies was approved by a lower house committee on Tuesday and was headed for a floor vote in the full chamber on Wednesday. The committee approved the proposal 27-10, a victory for President Michel Temer, who is trying to pass... Continue Reading →