Stories for April 2017

Saturday, April 22nd 2017 - 09:15 UTC
ExxonMobil betting heavily in developing Argentina's Vaca Muerta shale gas

ExxonMobil is planning to speed up investment plans for shale gas drilling in Argentina’s prized Vaca Muerta formation in the Neuquen province. Exxon will start drilling Vaca Muerta in May, by drilling horizontal wells with laterals of 2,500-3,000 meters, Neuquen province governor Omar Gutierrez said this week.
Friday, April 21st 2017 - 10:34 UTC
French first round presidential election on Sunday has no clear winner

French centrist Emmanuel Macron is set to come out on top in the first round of France's presidential election on Sunday as far right leader Marine Le Pen fell further behind him in an Elabe poll published on Friday. However, neither is totally assured a spot in the May 7 runoff round as both conservative Francois Fillon and hard-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon were seen narrowing Macron and Le Pen's lead over them.
Friday, April 21st 2017 - 10:18 UTC
EU/Mercosur accord is expected to be announced at WTO assembly in Argentina next December

An optimistic foreign minister Susana Malcorra said that Argentina expects the Mercosur/European Union trade agreement to be announced next December during the World Trade Organization meeting to be held in Buenos Aires, and which she described as an event of great political impact.
Friday, April 21st 2017 - 10:08 UTC
Trump administration plans to release major tax reform plan “very soon”

United States Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Thursday the Trump administration plans to release a “major tax reform” plan “very soon”. While the secretary has more recently backed away from meeting his own August deadline, Mnuchin's comments on Thursday reinforced his own commitment to finalize an overhaul of U.S. tax policy in 2017.
Friday, April 21st 2017 - 10:00 UTC
Venezuela donated US$ 500.000 to the inauguration of President Donald Trump

Venezuela has donated US$500,000 to US President Donald Trump's inauguration, newly released records show. Citgo Petroleum, a US-based subsidiary of the Venezuelan state-owned oil company, is named in papers filed with the Federal Election Commission.
Friday, April 21st 2017 - 09:56 UTC
Chile's presidential election will confront social-democratic reforms and a free markets' approach

A leftist senator running for president in Chile's November election is tied in a head-to-head match-up with the conservative frontrunner, even as his support has slipped in recent months, a poll released on Thursday showed.
Friday, April 21st 2017 - 09:32 UTC
Venezuela opposition announced three more days of protests

Venezuela's opposition renewed nationwide protests on Thursday to pressure President Nicolas Maduro to hold elections and improve a collapsing economy, and vowed to keep up pressure by staging three more protests in the next four days.
Thursday, April 20th 2017 - 23:21 UTC
Russian shipping conglomerate suing Venezuela's oil giant PDVSA for unpaid fees

Venezuela's state-run oil company, PDVSA, sent a tanker in October to the Caribbean with the expectation that its cargo of crude would fetch about US$20 million - money the crisis-stricken nation desperately needs. Instead, the owner of the tanker, the Russian state-owned shipping conglomerate Sovcomflot, held the oil in hopes of collecting partial payment on US$30 million that it says PDVSA owes for unpaid shipping fees.
Thursday, April 20th 2017 - 06:33 UTC
Chubut province declared in state of emergency and agriculture disaster

Chubut province in Argentine Patagonia has been declared in state of emergency and eight of its 16 counties in agriculture disaster as a consequence of torrential rainfall and mudslides which have left huge areas isolateds, or cut off from the communications network.
Thursday, April 20th 2017 - 06:24 UTC
Falklands' Criminal law and criminal justice system reform come into force Friday

The Falkland Islands government has announced as part of its transparency policy that reform to the criminal law and criminal justice system come into force from Friday, 21st April. The official release states that the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Ordinance and the Crimes Ordinance are a root and branch reform of the criminal law and the criminal justice system in the Falkland Islands.