Brazil's second-biggest fuel distributor, the Ipiranga unit of Ultrapar Participações SA , agreed to acquire a smaller peer for 2.17 billion reais ($635 million), rivaling the reach of state oil company Petrobras' distribution unit. Ipiranga, which has a network of 7,241 service stations, said in a securities filing on Sunday that the acquisition of Alesat... Continue Reading →
Petrobras 24-hour strike against Temer will not cut output -union
Brazil's main oilworkers unions on Friday held a 24-hour strike as part of nationwide protests against the government of interim-President Michel Temer, attacking his oil policies and seeking the return of suspended President Dilma Rousseff. The strike started just before midnight Thursday. Officials with the union, Sindipetro NF said there was almost no chance it... Continue Reading →
Energy World’s Newest Supership Misses the Boat on LNG Pricing
It’s longer than three soccer fields, heavier than two aircraft carriers and powerful enough to chill gas into liquid colder than the surface of Jupiter. And its maiden voyage couldn’t have come at a worse time. The world’s first modern vessel for producing liquefied natural gas was ordered by Petroliam Nasional Bhd in 2012 when LNG... Continue Reading →
BP Spins Off Norway Business Into Billionaire’s Oil Explorer
BP Plc sold its Norwegian oil fields, some more than 40 years old, to a company controlled by billionaire Kjell Inge Roekke in a 10.8 billion kroner ($1.3 billion) stock deal. The new business, called Aker BP ASA, will be the seventh-largest producer in Norway, with daily oil and natural gas output of about 122,000... Continue Reading →
The Undoing of a Brazil Giant, Told by Bankers Fearing the Worst
When Odebrecht SA sought to raise cash at the turn of the decade for an oil and gas venture, a top financier predicted the project would be pitched by “every single banker worth his mettle.” These days, when the Brazilian conglomerate seeks new funding, the answer is almost always the same: No. Interviews with... Continue Reading →
Seadrill Will Make Second Bond Swap in a Month to Trim Debt Load
Seadrill Ltd., the offshore driller seeking to cut its debt load, agreed to swap bonds for equity in the second such deal in less than a month. The company will issue 7.5 million new shares with par value of $2 apiece to some holders of its bonds due September 2017, in exchange for $50 million... Continue Reading →
Brazil Keeps Rate Before New Central Bank Chief Takes Post
Brazil kept borrowing costs unchanged as a new central bank president is set to take over the challenge of slowing inflation to target without exacerbating the worst recession in over a century. Policy makers, led by departing bank President Alexandre Tombini, on Wednesday voted unanimously to keep the Selic at a near-decade high of 14.25... Continue Reading →
Brazil Real Rises to 11-Month High as New Central Banker Cheered
Brazil’s currency posted its longest winning streak in more than two years as investors cheered comments from the incoming central bank head that signaled he’ll be less interventionist than his predecessor. The currency advanced 1.8 percent to 3.3802 per U.S. dollar as of 1:32 p.m. in Sao Paulo, set for the highest level since July.... Continue Reading →
Huge port envisioned by tycoon opens in Brazil – without him
The launch this week of Prumo Logistica's $3.7 billion Port of Açu, the largest in Latin America, marked the revival of a Brazilian logistics hub many thought doomed when the empire of its former billionaire owner collapsed. Açu's more than 25 km (15.5 miles) of docks, piers and breakwaters is a much-needed step towards narrowing... Continue Reading →
A Third of Brazilians Support Acting President Temer, Poll Shows
And the unpopular economic reforms have not been introduced to Congress yet... Brazil’s Acting President Michel Temer fares better than his deeply unpopular predecessor, according to the first public opinion survey since Dilma Rousseff was suspended for an impeachment trial. Temer’s personal approval rating is 33.8 percent, according to a June 2-5 MDA survey of... Continue Reading →
