As we ring in the New Year, let's take stock of where we are at with the oil markets. 2014 proved to be a momentous one for the oil markets, having seen prices cut in half in just six months.
Inflation in the Euro-zone has turned negative, official figures have shown, with prices in December 0.2% lower than the same month a year earlier. The tip into deflation adds pressure on the European Central Bank (ECB) to take further action to stimulate the bloc's economy.
The sale of cars, commercial vehicles, trucks and buses in Brazil dropped 7.15% last year compared to 2013, and reached 3.498 million according to the Brazilian federation of car dealers, Fenabrave. It is the largest drop for the industry in twelve years and the second consecutive fall.
Sales of new cars in Argentina plunged 42% in December, compared to the same month of 2013, a steep drop that managed to raise eyebrows in an industry that had gotten used to declines month after month. It was steeper than the already strong 37% drop seen in November.
President Nicolas Maduro said on Wednesday he had secured a total of more than 20 billion dollars in investment from major creditor China for economic, social, and oil-related projects.
The close historic and farming links between the Falkland Islands and the Magallanes Region, were underlined in a recent article by Punta Arenas researcher Silvestre Fugellie dedicated to sheep farming, the 'golden fleece' that changed the economy of those barren lands in the extreme south of Chile over a century ago.
Authorities on Wednesday conducted a court-ordered search of the Argentine headquarters of London-based bank HSBC, which faces allegations of aiding tax evasion, it was reported in Buenos Aires.
Argentina and Chile signed on Tuesday in Santiago the creation of a bi-national entity responsible for the Las Leñas Pass tunnel project (Ebileñas) to be drilled in the Andes connecting the two countries.
Brazil's new foreign minister Mauro Vieira has left for Beijing to attend the first ministerial meeting between China and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, CELAC, according to reports from Brasilia.
Low oil prices today may be setting the world up for an oil shortage as early as 2016. Today we have just 2% more crude oil supply than demand and the price of gasoline is under $2.00/gallon in Texas. If oil supply falls too far, we could see gasoline prices doubling within 18 months. For a commodity as critical to our standard of living as oil is, it only takes a small shortage to drive up the price.