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’s VP eyes ex-central bank chief as possible finance minister
Apr 26, 2016 Reuters Former President of Brazil's central bank Henrique Meirelles gestures during the Industry National Meeting in Sao Paulo, Brazil, November 13, 2015. REUTERS/RODRIGO PAIVA Brazilian Vice President Michel Temer said on Tuesday that former central bank chief Henrique Meirelles would be his choice to be finance minister if he were to take... Continue Reading →
Exxon Mobil Loses Top Credit Rating It Held Since Depression
The worst oil crash in a generation has cost Exxon Mobil Corp. the gold-plated credit rating it had held since the Great Depression. Standard & Poor’s on Tuesday stripped Exxon of its highest AAA measure of credit-worthiness, cutting it to AA+, the same as the U.S. government. It’s a defeat for Exxon, which sought to... Continue Reading →
Back to the House of Cards – Brazil’s main opposition party split on joining a future Temer government
Brazil's largest opposition party is divided over how strongly to back a new interim government if it succeeds in having President Dilma Rousseff stripped of office, as it eyes a run at the presidency in 2018, senior members said on Monday. The Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB) will support a government led by Vice President... Continue Reading →
Policy Priorities for Brazil Leader Include Debt, Pension, Politics
A political maelstrom is threatening to unseat President Dilma Rousseff. Waiting in the wings is her vice president, Michel Temer, who’s set to take over during her likely impeachment trial in the Senate. His task would be formidable: cobble together a majority of lawmakers to enact reforms that not only bring about recovery of an... Continue Reading →
BP Reports Surprise Profit on Strength in Refining, Trading
BP Plc, the first oil major to report first-quarter earnings, posted a surprise profit as a stronger-than-expected refining and trading performance helped mitigate the lowest crude prices in more than a decade. Profit adjusted for one-time items and inventory changes totaled $532 million compared with $2.6 billion a year earlier, the London-based company said on Tuesday. Analysts had... Continue Reading →
Offshore rig operators reel from oil price rout/FT
Seadrill, Ensco and others report losses as producers curtail costly projects Seadrill's West Capricorn rig APRIL 24, 2016 by: Ed Crooks in New York In the depths of the ocean off the coast of Uruguay, more than two miles below sea level, the oil industry is continuing to push back the frontier. Last month a... Continue Reading →
