Brazil’s real tumbled after inflation accelerated and as Goldman Sachs said the currency is poised to drop another 10 percent this year while the government struggles to contain consumer-price increases and shore up its budget. Sentiment in Brazil remains distinctively negative and the dominant view is that things will get worse before they get better, Alberto... Continue Reading →

Brazilian police are investigating potential bribes of $3 million from Latin America's largest engineering conglomerate Odebrecht to Peruvian President Ollanta Humala, court documents showed. Documents seized from Marcelo Odebrecht, the former CEO of the family-run company, cite "Program OH," which police said in the documents they interpreted as referring to the initials of the Peruvian... Continue Reading →

Statoil ASA plans to double oil production from deepwater wells in the Gulf of Mexico in three years after slashing one in five workers at its U.S. business and installing new managers. The Norwegian oil giant is bucking the trend among other major explorers who are scaling back or outright canceling deepwater Gulf of Mexico... Continue Reading →

The European Union suspended the deadline for its review of Halliburton Co.’s acquisition of Baker Hughes Inc.as regulators said the companies failed to supply “important information.” The EU regulator “stopped the clock in its in-depth investigation into the Baker Hughes -- Halliburton deal,” EU spokesman Ricardo Cardoso said in an e-mailed response to questions. The... Continue Reading →

The global oil glut will persist into 2017, limiting any chance of a price rebound in the short term as the surplus takes even longer to clear than previously estimated, according to the International Energy Agency. While U.S. shale oil production will retreat this year and next as the price slump hits drilling, its subsequent... Continue Reading →

Feb 19, 2016 Reuters Brazil's Rio de Janeiro state plans to withdraw new taxes on oil and gas production before they take effect in March on concern the tax will hurt an already weak industry, a source involved in talks told Reuters on Friday. The tax, passed by the Rio de Janeiro state legislature last... Continue Reading →

Standard & Poor's said on Thursday that it might downgrade Brazil's rating further into junk territory as a political crisis delays important measures to rebalance the country's finances. S&P director Lisa Schineller said on a conference call that the agency would keep a negative outlook for the country's rating as long as political uncertainties remain,... Continue Reading →

Feb 18, 2016  Reuters By Bruno Federowski SAO PAULO, Feb 18 The Brazilian real underperformed Latin American currencies on Thursday after Standard & Poor's downgraded the country deeper into junk territory. Citing considerable economic and political challenges, S&P cut Brazil's sovereign grade rating to BB from BB+ with a negative outlook. Traders said the cut... Continue Reading →