Seadrill Ltd., the offshore driller with the biggest debt load, reached a deal with its banks to extend its three nearest credit lines and amend covenants as it seeks to ease its burden amid a drop in the demand for offshore rigs. In the “first phase of a broader plan to refinance and recapitalize the... Continue Reading →
Brazil Real Posts Best Streak in a Month on Turnaround Outlook
The real advanced as investors anticipated a turnaround for the Brazilian economy and the Senate prepares to decide on the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff. The central bank refrained from acting to weaken the currency for a fourth consecutive day. The currency strengthened 1.1 percent to 3.4885 per dollar at 3:49 p.m. in Sao Paulo,... Continue Reading →
Pemex Posts 14th Straight Loss as Spending Cuts Crimp Output
Petroleos Mexicanos posted a loss for the 14th consecutive quarter as massive spending cuts diminish the state oil producer’s ability to arrest years of declining production. The first-quarter loss narrowed to 62 billion pesos ($3.6 billion), from 100.5 billion a year earlier, Pemex, as Mexico’s biggest company is known, said in a statement Thursday. The... Continue Reading →
Brazil prosecutors charge Rousseff campaign strategist
Brazilian prosecutors charged political strategist Joao Santana, the architect of President Dilma Rousseff's 2010 and 2014 election victories, and 16 others with corruption on Thursday as part of a massive graft investigation. Santana, who was arrested in February, is accused of receiving bribes from engineering conglomerate Odebrecht in a scheme to divert funds from state-run... Continue Reading →
IMF says Brazil resilience bodes well for recovery post-crises
Fund points to country’s ability to attract foreign direct investment despite political upheaval © AFP by: Jude Webber in Mexico City Brazil’s “amazing” resilience in attracting foreign direct investment despite a crushing political and economic crisis bodes well for its recovery in the aftermath of the decision on President Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment, the International Monetary... Continue Reading →
Brazil Holds Rate Steady as New Government Waits in Wings
Brazil’s central bank kept its key interest rate unchanged in a widely expected decision amid the unfolding drama of impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff and the country’s economic woes. Policy makers, led by President Alexandre Tombini, held the so-called Selic rate at a near-decade high of 14.25 percent on Wednesday for the sixth straight... Continue Reading →
Brazil Said to Be Biggest Creditor in Planned Oil-Rig Bankruptcy
Sete Brasil Participacoes SA may file for bankruptcy protection as early as this week, with Brazil’s state-owned banks and a government-affiliated fund accounting for more than half the oil-rig company’s 18 billion reais ($5.1 billion) in liabilities, according to people directly involved with the company’s finances. Brazil’s naval fund, which provides a state guarantee on... Continue Reading →
Total Quarterly Profit Beats Estimates, Helped by Refining
Total SA posted first-quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates as cost cuts, rising production and resilient refining earnings helped the French company offset the slump in crude prices. Adjusted net income fell 37 percent from a year earlier to $1.64 billion, the company based in Courbevoie near Paris said in a statement Wednesday. Analysts had expected a... Continue Reading →
Statoil Posts Surprise Profit as Lower Costs Offset Oil Drop
Statoil ASA, Norway’s biggest oil company, unexpectedly posted a profit in the first quarter as cost cutting helped offset the lowest crude prices in almost 12 years. Adjusted earnings after tax fell to $122 million from $902 million ayear earlier, the Stavanger-based producer said in a statement Wednesday. The average forecast of 12 analysts surveyed... Continue Reading →
Exclusive: Brazil’s Temer to overhaul economy, central bank to rescue confidence
The board of Brazil's central bank would be replaced as part of a drive to overhaul management of the economy and adopt sweeping reforms to regain investor confidence in a possible government of Vice President Michel Temer, three people familiar with the plan told Reuters. With President Dilma Rousseff likely to be suspended by the... Continue Reading →
Brazil Energy Insight 