Reuters Aug 25 A voluntary layoff program at state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA has been accepted by 6,100 employees, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. The number may rise by month-end, the deadline for the plan proposed by the oil giant known as Petrobras. Around 12,000 employees, or 21 percent... Continue Reading →
Brazil’s Lula Charged With Corruption Amid Trial of His Protege
Brazilian police charged former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva with corruption and money laundering as his successor faces an impeachment trial expected to oust her permanently next week. A spokesman for the federal police in Brasilia confirmed the charges on Friday, which local media reported are in relation to a beach-side apartment in Sao... Continue Reading →
Brazil’s Camargo Correa chairman Hallack quits
Aug 26 Vítor Sarquis Hallack has stepped down as chairman of Brazil's Camargo Correa SA as the Brazilian engineering company involved in the country's worst corruption scandal moves to transform itself into an investment holding firm, O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper reported on Friday. According to Estado, Camargo Correa, which was founded in 1939... Continue Reading →
Oil Industry Shifts From Survival to Growth
Multibillion-dollar oil and gas deals are back on the table. More than $11 billion of transactions were announced globally in July as crude’s recovery fueled hopes of a steadier market, Wood Mackenzie Ltd. said. That’s the highest monthly total this year and brings the amount since May to $32 billion, triple that of the previous three... Continue Reading →
Brazil state banks to fund infrastructure projects
Aug 25 State-controlled Brazilian lenders BNDES and Caixa Econômica Federal SA plan to extend funding to private investors who win licenses for port, energy and other infrastructure projects, including stakes in offshore oil finds, newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo reported on Thursday. The planned auctions, which could be Brazil's most ambitious privatization drive in... Continue Reading →
Brazil Starts Impeachment Trial That May Hold Key to Recovery
Brazil’s Senate opens an historic impeachment trial on Thursday that is expected to result in President Dilma Rousseff’s permanent ouster and give her successor Michel Temer some of the legitimacy he needs to revive economic growth. The trial is scheduled to finish with a vote Tuesday or Wednesday next week on charges that Rousseff illegally financed... Continue Reading →
China Oil Giants Unmoved by Bull Rally After Worst-Ever Earnings
After posting their worst-ever half-year results, two of China’s oil giants aren’t getting carried away by crude’s return to a bull market, forecasting a rocky path ahead. PetroChina Co., the country’s biggest oil and gas company, and Cnooc Ltd., China’s main offshore explorer, reported the weakest earnings since they were both publicly listed. About a... Continue Reading →
Norway Oil Companies Cut Investment Plans Further Amid Slump
Oil and gas companies operating in Norway, western Europe’s biggest producer, cut investment forecasts further for this year and next as they continue to weather a two-year long collapse in crude prices. Investments in Norway’s offshore oil and gas industry are now expected to fall to 163 billion kroner ($20 billion) in 2016, down from... Continue Reading →
Moody’s downgrades Brazil’s Odebrecht construction company
Aug 22/Reuters - Moody's Investors Service downgraded the credit ratings of two units of Odebrecht SA, the engineering and construction company and the financial holding entity, citing liquidity and reputational risks for the Brazilian conglomerate, which is one of the main targets of the country widest-ever corruption probe. The downgrades affect $3.1 billion in debt... Continue Reading →
Brazil’s Corruption Probe Causing Paralysis, GE’s Rice Says
Brazil’s two-and-a-half-year investigation of construction companies is hampering new infrastructure in Latin America’s biggest economy and the wider region, where Brazilian builders have a dominant presence, said a top executive at General Electric Co. “There’s a certain amount of paralysis that exists now because of Carwash, and the damage of continuing that for years and... Continue Reading →
Brazil Energy Insight 