Royal Dutch Shell Plc won shareholder approval to buy BG Group Plc, sealing its biggest acquisition amid the worst oil-industry slump since the global financial crisis. More than 83 percent of Shell shareholders voted in favor of the transaction, the company said in a statement. Most votes were cast by proxy while other investors met... Continue Reading →
Brazil’s Petrobras Distribuidora elects interim CEO
Jan 26, 2016 Reuters Petrobras Distribuidora SA, the fuel distribution unit of state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA, said on Tuesday it had elected Ivan de Sá Pereira Junior as its interim chief executive. Petrobras, as the company is known, has said it wants to sell at least 25 percent of the unit to a... Continue Reading →
Brazilian police launch new raids in sweeping corruption probe
Brazil's Federal Police on Wednesday launched the latest stage of a sweeping investigation into corruption at state-controlled firms, with six arrest and 15 search warrants issued in the states of São Paulo and Santa Catarina. The warrants in the so-called "Operation Carwash" probe involve the suspected use of offshore companies and real estate transactions to... Continue Reading →
Investment inflows into Brazil soar as external gap meets forecasts
Reuters Jan 26 - Foreign direct investment into Brazil came in December at more than twice the amount estimated by analysts, as a weakening currency and declining asset prices triggered a jump in merger and acquisition activity at the end of last year. FDI, as the indicator is known, rose to $15.211 billion last month,... Continue Reading →
A New Reality – Benchmark report on the outlook of the oil and gas industry in 2016
New research from DNV GL has revealed that cost management has become an even higher priority for senior oil and gas professionals in the year ahead, as 73% prepare their company for a sustained period of low oil prices. The top three measures prioritized to impose stricter cost control are: Tougher decisions on capex Headcount... Continue Reading →
Temasek Said to Discuss Potential Keppel Sale of M1, REIT Stakes
Temasek Holdings Pte is discussing options for portfolio companies Keppel Corp. and Sembcorp Industries Ltd., ranging from divesting their non-core assets to selling shares, as the two Singaporean rig builders grapple with the oil-price slump, people with knowledge of the matter said. Temasek is weighing the possibility of Keppel selling its 19.1 percent stake in... Continue Reading →
Santander says overweight Brazil’s Petrobras bonds on asset-sale outlook
Santander Investment Securities said it has an "overweight" recommendation on the bonds of Brazil's state-led oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA on expectation its asset-sale plans and cost cutting efforts will reduce debt. After meeting company executives, analyst Aaron Holsberg said that executives at Petrobras, as the company is known, have made divestments a high priority... Continue Reading →
Brazil oil rules block $120 billion in investment: IBP
Brazil's lack of clear rules for the unitization of oilfields is delaying the development of as many as 10 billion barrels of oil and gas and about $120 billion of investment, Jorge Camargo, head of Brazil's oil industry association, IBP, said on Monday. Unitization, the process of joining different or competing oil rights in an... Continue Reading →
Petrobras Rescue Could Cost Brazil $21 Billion, Citigroup Says
Bailing-out state-controlled oil producer Petroleo Brasileiro SA could cost the government as much as $21 billion, according to research from Citigroup Inc. That would be the amount necessary to plug the company’s cash hole and fix the capital structure on a sustainable basis were oil to fall to $20 for 12 months, Citigroup credit analysts... Continue Reading →
SBM CEO settles ‘favouritism’ charge with Brazilian prosecutors
The chief executive of SBM Offshore and one of its board members settled "personal favouritism" charges with Brazilian prosecutors for around $60,000 each, with no admission of guilt, the company said on Monday. The company said in a statement it believed the charges against CEO Bruno Chabas and board member Sietze Hepkema were "without merit"... Continue Reading →
Brazil Energy Insight 