Brazil's Petrobras said on Thursday it will cut about one in five management jobs, streamline operations and boost oversight as the state-led oil company adapts to low oil prices and tries to boost confidence after a corruption scandal. The measures will save Petrobras, formally known as Petroleo Brasileiro SA, about 1.8 billion reais per year... Continue Reading →
Brazil court upholds OAS bankruptcy plan, paving way for asset sales
A Brazilian bankruptcy court upheld a restructuring plan for embattled engineering conglomerate Grupo OAS, paving the way for a slew of asset sales aimed at helping pay over 8 billion reais ($2 billion) in liabilities. In a Thursday statement, the São Paulo-based group said that bankruptcy judge Daniel Carnio Costa gave his approval to the... Continue Reading →
UPDATE 1-Norway’s oil fund puts Petrobras on ethics watch
OSLO, Jan 28 Norway's sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, has put Brazilian oil company Petrobras on its ethics watch list due to the company's involvement in Brazil's largest-ever corruption scandal. The $800 billion-plus fund, charged with the management of Norway's oil wealth, said it could exclude it from the fund's investments if it saw... Continue Reading →
Petrobras Cuts Managers to Save $440 Million a Year in Oil Rou
Peter Millard/Bloomberg January 28, 2016 — 10:05 AM BRST Brazil’s state-controlled oil company is reducing management positions and streamlining operations to save 1.8 billion reais ($440 million) a year as it navigates the worst oil market in a generation and a sprawling corruption investigation. Petroleo Brasileiro SA is reducing management positions in non-operational areas by... Continue Reading →
Petrobras – Material Fact: Revision on Petrobras’ Governance and Organizational Model
Rio de Janeiro, January 28th, 2016 – Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras hereby announces that its Board of Directors has approved the Company’s new organizational model. The revision of the model is due to the need to align the organization with the new reality of the oil and gas sector and to prioritize profitability and... Continue Reading →
Norway’s oil fund places Petrobras investment under observation
Jan 28, 2016 Reuters OSLO Norway's sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, has placed its investment in Brazil's Petrobras under observation after the company's involvement in Brazil's largest ever corruption scandal. The $800 billion-plus fund, charged with the management of Norway's oil wealth, said on Thursday that the decision was on the basis of the... Continue Reading →
Mexico to Evaluate Possible Pemex Capital Injection: Messmacher
Mexico could inject capital into slumping state-owned Petroleos Mexicanos and allow it to increase debt more than planned if the oil producer presents a plan to ensure its long-term sustainability and profitability, Deputy Finance Minister Miguel Messmacher said. Pemex needs to show it can lower costs, make better investments and accelerate partnerships with other companies,... Continue Reading →
Brazil Real Falls as Probe Advance Offsets Stimulus Speculation
Brazil’s real dropped for the first time this week as a widening corruption probe offset speculation the government will announce as much as $12.3 billion of new loans to revive Latin America’s largest economy. The real trimmed this year’s gains after Brazil’s federal police carried out search and arrest warrants in four cities on Wednesday... Continue Reading →
Goldman Sachs Calls Brazil a ‘Mess’ After Warning on Depression
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said the crisis in Brazil will get worse before it gets better after the bank last year warned that Latin America’s largest economy was being dragged into a depression. “Brazil is a mess,” Alberto Ramos, the chief Latin America economist at Goldman Sachs, said at an event organized by the Brazilian-American... Continue Reading →
Brazilian Judge Blocks Sale of Petrobras Subsidiary to Mitsui
Judge rules deal doesn’t meet some transparency requirements and referred to Petrobras’ previous actions A judge this week blocked Petrobras’ sale of a minority stake in its natural-gas distribution unit to Japan’s Mitsui. PHOTO: REUTERS By WILL CONNORS/WSJ Jan. 26, 2016 8:25 p.m. ET RIO DE JANEIRO—A Brazilian federal judge this week blocked the 1.9... Continue Reading →
Brazil Energy Insight 