12/10/2015 Rio de Janeiro, December 10, 2015 – Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras hereby responds to Official Letter 529/2015/CVM/SEP/GEA-1, which requests the following clarifications: Official Letter no. 529/2015/CVM/SEP/GEA-1 “We refer to the article published in the Economia & Negócios (Economy and Business) section of today’s edition of the newspaper O Estado de São Paulo, entitled:... Continue Reading →
Brazil Real Falls as Ministers’ Dispute Fuels Political Tension
Brazil’s real declined amid speculation that tensions between Finance Minister Joaquim Levy and Planning Minister Nelson Barbosa over fiscal policy is heating up again, adding another hurdle to passing reforms needed to shore up the budget and resume growth. A Valor Economico newspaper columnist reported Friday that Levy is defending a so-called primary budget surplus... Continue Reading →
Petrobras Tries American-Shale Boys’ Tack to Survive Oil Crisis
The head of Brazil’s troubled oil giant is carving a path through the the worst oil rout in a generation that would look familiar to producers throughout the U.S. shale patch: focus on the core. Petroleo Brasileiro SA is preparing to deepen spending cuts and concentrate on its best fields to confront the collapse of... Continue Reading →
Brazil’s Epic Scandal Takes Down a Banker
Brazilians have become inured to seeing politicians and businessmen marched off to prison for corruption. But the mug shot of banker André Esteves—unshaven and frowning—that flashed across TV screens in early December was a shock. Part of a cadre of mavericks who got astonishingly rich from Brazil’s transformation into one of the world’s top 10 economies... Continue Reading →
Primary activity grinds to halt as Petrobras in focus
Bankers covering Latin America are ready to put 2015 behind them, as a rout in oil prices and more negative headlines out of Brazil indicate December is likely to end with virtually no issuance out of the region. Hopes that opportunistic borrowers might try to exploit a narrow window before a key Federal Reserve meeting... Continue Reading →
Petrobras CEO expects to sell $20 billion in debt in 2016
Dec 10, 2015 Petrobras CEO expects to sell $20 billion in debt in 2016: Bloomberg RIO DE JANEIRO/Reuters The Petrobras logo is seen in front of the company's headquarters in Sao Paulo April 23, 2015. REUTERS/PAULO WHITAKER Brazil's Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PETR4.SA) plans to sell about $20 billion of debt next year to finance its... Continue Reading →
BTG Pactual faces rocky exit in some Esteves bets, hurting Brazil
SAO PAULO, Dec 10 When Grupo BTG Pactual SA took control of apparel and home furnishing retailer Leader Participações SA about three years ago, it looked like a classic turnaround play: a threadbare chain that could be revamped to serve Brazil's burgeoning middle class. Of all BTG Pactual's investments, the most painful is Sete... Continue Reading →
Oil Giants Pledge Even Deeper Spending Cuts Amid Prolonged Slump
Some of the biggest oil explorers in the Western Hemisphere are cutting budgets yet again to conserve cash as a plunge in energy markets shows no signs of abating. ConocoPhillips will reduce capital spending by 25 percent next year to $7.7 billion to protect the highest dividend yield among major U.S. oil producers, the Houston-based... Continue Reading →
Brazil’s ANP asks govt. to extend Petrobras’ Marlim field rights
Dec 10, 2015 Reuters Brazil's ANP asks govt. to extend Petrobras' Marlim field rights RIO DE JANEIRO Dec 10 Brazil's oil industry regulator ANP on Thursday asked the government to extend the concession to operate the giant Marlim offshore oil field of state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA that is scheduled to expire in 2025.... Continue Reading →
Zombies appear in U.S. oilfields as crude plumbs to new lows
Drained by a 17-month crude rout, some U.S. shale oil companies are merely hanging on for life as oil prices lurch further away from levels that allow them to profitably drill new wells and bring in enough cash to keep them in business. The slump has created dozens of oil and gas "zombies," a... Continue Reading →