Rio de Janeiro, August 8, 2016 – Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras hereby answers to the Official Letter No. 202/2016CVM/SEP/GEA3, which requests the following clarifications: Ref.: Official Letter No.202/2016CVM/SEP/GEA3 “Mr. Director, 1. We refer to the news published today in the newspaper Valor Econômico, Business section, under the title: "Petrobras may have to give preference... Continue Reading →
Brazil antitrust regulator recommends penalizing Petrobras
By Ana Mano/Reuters Aug 8 The superintendent's office of Brazil's antitrust regulator Cade recommended penalizing state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA for anti-competitive behavior in the natural gas distribution market, according to a statement from Cade on Monday. The case will now be tried before Cade's tribunal at a date yet to be determined. The... Continue Reading →
Chevron Wins Big in $9.5 Billion Oil Pollution Case. But It’s Not Over Yet
Chevron couldn’t have won a more emphatic victory in its long-running Ecuadorian pollution case than Monday's ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals in New York. A three-judge panel unanimously affirmed a trial court's determination that, in 2011, the lead attorney for some 30,000 Ecuadorians had won a $9.5 billion judgment against Chevron by means of bribery, coercion, and... Continue Reading →
Petrobras – Approval of amendments in the Bylaws and creation of the Strategy, Organization and Management System Officer
Rio de Janeiro, August 4, 2016 - Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras announces that the Shareholders' Extraordinary General Meeting held today approved the changes in the bylaws, aimed at improving the Company's governance and management. Among the changes is the creation of the new Strategy, Organization and Management System Officer. With this, the Executive Board... Continue Reading →
Brazilian corruption probes, bankruptcies spawn insurance boom
Insurers who sell policies limiting executives' liability from lawsuits have seen a surge in business thanks to a sprawling Brazilian corruption probe involving state-controlled Petroleo Brasileiro SA and a rash of corporate bankruptcies. The country's so-called Directors & Officers (D&O) insurance market has more than doubled in value since 2011 based on the volumes of... Continue Reading →
Brazil’s Odebrecht gave illegal funds to Temer campaign
Marcelo Odebrecht (R), the head of Latin America's largest engineering and construction company Odebrecht SA, and Otavio Marques Azevedo (L), CEO of Brazil's second largest builder Andrade Gutierrez, are escorted by federal police officers as they leave the Institute of... REUTERS/RODOLFO BURHER Jailed Brazilian construction magnate Marcelo Odebrecht has told prosecutors he contributed illegally to... Continue Reading →
Brazil Real Fluctuates as Local Optimism Blunted by Oil Decline
Brazil’s real swung between gains and losses as oil fell and the dollar strengthened against most currencies, offsetting reassuring messages from the economic team in Latin America’s largest economy. The real gained 0.1 percent to 3.19 per dollar at 12:16 p.m. in Sao Paulo, after falling 0.2 percent. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the U.S.... Continue Reading →
International graft crackdown takes hold, FBI official says, citing Brazil
The Brazil corruption scandal hitting the highest level of government is seen by many as another sign that the $1 trillion-a-year drained from the global economy through graft is unstoppable. Federal Bureau of Investigation veteran William McMurry views it differently — the country’s high-level prosecutions of public officials show that law enforcement is cracking down... Continue Reading →
Undersea Drones Take a Breather
Until recently, oil and gas kept robots moving in more ways than one. Fossil fuel companies looking to speed up exploration, drilling, construction, and maintenance work turned to heavy-duty underwater drones known as remotely operated vehicles, or ROVs, to keep their wells afloat. By last year the global market for ROV operations—mostly contract work done... Continue Reading →
Crude Slump Sees Oil Majors’ Debt Burden Double to $138 Billion
When commodity prices crashed in late 2014, oil executives could look at their mining counterparts with a sense of superiority. Back then, the world’s biggest oil companies enjoyed relatively strong balance sheets, with little borrowing relative to the value of their assets. Miners entered the slump in a very different state and some of the... Continue Reading →
Brazil Energy Insight 