Economy

• Thursday, May 16th 2013 - 03:24 UTC

  Chevron agrees to invest 1.5bn dollars in developing YPF shale field in Patagonia

  

  Argentina’s nationalized oil company YPF signed on Wednesday an agreement with US oil major Chevron Corp to define the terms and conditions of Chevron's investment of 1.5 billion dollars in the vast Vaca Muerta shale field.

• Wednesday, May 15th 2013 - 22:15 UTC

  EU recession for the sixth consecutive quarter; France joins the club with 0.2% contraction

  

  Wednesday’s economic growth numbers make it official: the Euro zone is in its longest recession since records began in 1995. The 17-nation economy shrank by 0.2% between January and March, compared with last quarter's decline of 0.6%, deepening the bloc's recession as economic output fell for the sixth consecutive quarter.

• Wednesday, May 15th 2013 - 21:59 UTC

  Paraguay on Independence Day blasts Argentina and Brazil over “power resource exploitation”

  

  President Federico Franco said Paraguay has long cancelled its debts for the construction of two huge shared hydroelectric dams with its powerful neighbours and demanded Argentina pay for the surplus energy it receives and compensation for flooding Paraguayan territory.

• Wednesday, May 15th 2013 - 17:26 UTC

  North American oil production surge forecasted to transform world market in next five years

  

  The supply shock created by a surge in North American oil production will be as transformative to the market over the next five years as was the rise of Chinese demand over the last 15, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its annual Medium-Term Oil Market Report (MTOMR) released this week.

• Wednesday, May 15th 2013 - 07:32 UTC

  Argentina April inflation 23.67% in 12 months; partial prices-freeze to continue until October election

  

  Argentina’s inflation in April was 1.52% and 23.67% in the last twelve months according to the so called Congress index which is calculated by private agencies and was released on Tuesday.

• Tuesday, May 14th 2013 - 23:13 UTC

  Venezuela net importer of gasoline in 2012 because of Amuay refinery fire

  

  Venezuela in 2012 became a net importer of gasoline as a result of escalating problems at its refineries and increasing demand for fuel in its internal market, joining a growing list of countries that struggle with fuel supplies despite ample oil reserves.

• Tuesday, May 14th 2013 - 23:04 UTC

  Record FDI year confirms Latam as commodities supplier but with little technology input

  

  Latin America and the Caribbean received last year a record 173.361 billion dollars in foreign direct investment (FDI) (6.7% more than in 2011), despite an international context characterized by shrinking FDI flows worldwide, according to the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

• Tuesday, May 14th 2013 - 23:00 UTC

  New WTO chief says it’s time for ‘modulating’ ambition and pushing protectionism back

  

  Brazil’s Roberto Azevedo vowed to revive the deadlocked World Trade Organisation, as he was confirmed this week as the incoming leader of the body which sets the rules for global commerce.

• Tuesday, May 14th 2013 - 18:58 UTC

  Argentine inflation controversy: court vindicates private stats agencies

  

  An Argentine appeals court threw out the fines that Domestic Trade Secretary Guillermo Moreno had slapped on private firms that issued inflation estimates that were much higher than the government’s official rate.

• Tuesday, May 14th 2013 - 18:32 UTC

  Monsanto wins leading soybean seed replicating case to the relief of biotechnology industry

  

  In a decision that drew sighs of relief from the biotechnology industry, the US Supreme Court ruled that an Indiana farmer violated agribusiness company Monsanto Co’s patent for a type of soybean. The court agreed unanimously with Monsanto that Vernon Bowman, 75, had performed an end-run around the law when he used the company’s patented soybean seeds without seeking a licence.