Brought to you by Quest Offshore & Southern Cone Consultants
The world’s three biggest shipbuilders posted a combined 4.8 trillion won ($4.1 billion) in operating losses in the second quarter, paying the price for a failed foray into deep-sea oil rigs. Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. and Samsung Heavy Industries Co. -- South Korea’s Big Three shipbuilders -- all reported... Continue Reading →
Of the three biggest ratings companies, S&P has taken the toughest stance on Brazil. Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings have the country rated a notch higher, providing a bigger buffer from the junk-grade threshold. A downgrade by S&P would undo the progress made under former President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, who led the... Continue Reading →
BP Plc reported a $5.8 billion net loss last quarter, not including inventory holding losses, citing low oil prices and charges from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. How does that stack up for the London-based energy giant? Read More
Standard & Poor’s said it may cut Brazil’s credit rating to junk, citing the country’s political and economic challenges amid an ongoing corruption probe. The ratings company said in a statement Tuesday it revised the outlook on Brazil’s rating to negative from stable. The country’s rating from S&P is already at BBB-, the lowest investment... Continue Reading →
Brazil’s failure to meet the government’s fiscal goal, a contracting economy and President Dilma Rousseff’s sinking popularity are making forecasters of the nation’s currency the most pessimistic in a month. The drop in the real took it to a level weaker than the year-end median outlook of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg after Finance Minister Joaquim... Continue Reading →
Brazilian federal police said on Tuesday they were completing two arrest warrants as part of a corruption investigation into Eletronuclear, a subsidiary of state-run electric utility Eletrobras. The investigation that had previously focused on graft at state-run oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA is investigating price fixing and cartel formation at the Angra 3 nuclear reactor,... Continue Reading →
The portion of emerging-market companies in Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Global High Yield Index has swelled since they were first included four years ago. Petroleo Brasileiro SA became the biggest index member after the Brazilian oil producer was cut to junk by Moody’s Investors Service in February, with $44 billion of debt, according to Bank of America. Russian... Continue Reading →
BP Plc reported second-quarter profit that missed analyst estimates after a boom in trading faded and the conflict in Libya forced almost $600 million of writedowns. Profit adjusted for one-time items and inventory changes dropped 64 percent from a year earlier to $1.3 billion, BP said Tuesday. That missed the $1.7 billion average estimate of... Continue Reading →
Santos Port has always been known as Brazil’s gateway to the world. Now, it’s also a window into what went wrong in Latin America’s biggest economy. Exports from Santos have tumbled as demand from China sags. Companies betting on a boon as massive offshore oil finds were developed are now scaling back after Petroleo Brasileiro... Continue Reading →
Statoil ASA, Norway’s biggest oil and gas producer, posted second-quarter profit that beat estimates as higher production, lower costs and refining margins helped it to weather a plunge in crude prices. Net income excluding financial and other items fell to 7.2 billion kroner ($878 million) from 9.9 billion kroner a year earlier, the Stavanger-based company... Continue Reading →
Brazil Energy Insight 