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LONDON—The world’s biggest oil companies have vowed to bring down the costs of big projects in the face of slumping oil prices, but the unrelenting price weakness—with crude below $50 a barrel—suggests they could have to dig deeper still. In the past year, as oil prices plunged 60% from highs of $114 in 2014, U.K.... Continue Reading →
The first oil output from a long-duration test in Brazil's giant Libra offshore area will flow in the first quarter of 2017, platform joint operator Odebrecht Oil & Gas (OOG) said on Tuesday. That is later than the 2016 second-half start forecast in June by Brazil's state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA , or Petrobras,... Continue Reading →
It is shaping up as a cruel summer for debt investors wagering on a rebound in the oil-and-gas business. Funds managed by Franklin Resources Inc., Blackstone Group LP and Oaktree Capital Group LLC, among others, are facing paper losses on substantial investments this year in exploration-and-production companies. The sector is coming under further pressure as... Continue Reading →
Petroleo Brasileiro SA is looking to sell about 25 percent of its distribution unit in what would be Brazil’s biggest initial public offering in more than two years, said two people with direct knowledge of the matter. The Petrobras Distribuidora SA unit, known as BR, is Latin America’s largest distributor and marketer of petroleum derivatives... Continue Reading →
Odebrecht Oil & Gas announced the signing of a 10 year loan, with 7 undisclosed financial institutions, for U$804 million. The purpose of the loan is to build an FPSO for the pre salt Libra field operated by Petrobras. The lease contract was signed shortly after the Libra auction and the vessel is being built... Continue Reading →
The real fell for a fourth straight day, declining 0.6 percent to 3.4723 per dollar at 10:36 a.m. in Sao Paulo, the weakest level on a closing basis since March 2003. The average directional index increased to 35.7, above the level of 25 that some traders interpret as a sign that a trend will last.... Continue Reading →
The biggest corporate fraud case in Brazil’s history has cost its most important company billions of dollars, heaped disgrace on the nation’s political elites and helped slow its economy to a crawl. But there is an upside to the bribery-and-kickback affair centered on oil giant Petróleo Brasileiro SA: cheap art for the public. For a... Continue Reading →
Reuters Mon Aug 3, 2015 9:24pm EDT Oil industry slams terms of Brazil's planned block auction RIO DE JANEIRO | BY MARTA NOGUEIRA Aug 3 Terms for Brazil's 13th Oil Round, in which the government hopes to sell rights to 266 exploratory blocks in early October, "are the worst ever", the Brazilian Petroleum Institute (IBP)... Continue Reading →
Brazil's state-run oil company, Petrobras, has failed to present its board of directors with a promised plan to bring domestic fuel prices in line with world levels, three sources with direct knowledge of the situation told Reuters. The lack of a policy threatens the company's already-fragile finances and could delay efforts to sell refineries and... Continue Reading →
He was celebrated as the architect of an economic miracle -- the man who would finally turn Brazil into a fair and prosperous nation. But now Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has been caught up in a wave of corruption probes sweeping the country and besieging his successor and protégé, President Dilma Rousseff. It’s a... Continue Reading →
Brazil Energy Insight 