Economy

• Thursday, July 20th 2017 - 09:54 UTC

  Top oil companies plan to invest US$ 1.15bn in Patagonia's shale formation

  

  BP unit and subsidiaries of France’s Total and Germany’s Wintershall have signed an investment agreement with Argentina’s state-run oil company YPF to jointly invest US$1.15 billion in the Vaca Muerta shale formation in Argentina.

• Thursday, July 20th 2017 - 09:45 UTC

  “Dump Falklands and Tierra del Fuego, they are too expensive”, says Argentine top banker

  

  Another member of Argentine President Mauricio Macri administration is in trouble over statements referred to the Falkland Islands, which were actually unearthed from years back, but in election time strange things tend to happen and social networks picked up the outburst of such major 'sin'.

• Thursday, July 20th 2017 - 09:29 UTC

  UK ex top diplomat warns of “disastrous consequences” of Brexit

  

  The author of the European Union’s Article 50 has issued a call for Brexit to be halted, warning that its “disastrous consequences” are becoming clearer every day. Lord Kerr of Kinlochard was among more than 60 prominent figures in Scotland who signed a joint letter warning that Brexit has seriously damaged the UK’s international reputation and calling for a “UK-wide debate about calling a halt to the process”.

• Wednesday, July 19th 2017 - 15:16 UTC

  Mexico digesting major crude discoveries, delays offshore oil auctions

  

  Mexico will delay its next offshore oilfield auctions by a month, giving international bidders more time to evaluate recent major crude discoveries that highlight the potential value of the assets. A new billion-barrel find announced last week “confirms that the Mexican side of the Gulf of Mexico is very prolific,” said Juan Carlos Zepeda, Mexico’s chief oil regulator in an interview.

• Wednesday, July 19th 2017 - 15:10 UTC

  World Medical Association urges Venezuela to immediately address health situation

  

  The World Medical Association has urged the Venezuelan Government to take immediate action to resolve the country's serious health crisis, which it says has led to increased morbidity, mortality and malnutrition among infants.

• Wednesday, July 19th 2017 - 11:05 UTC

  UK consumers will no longer suffer surcharges for card payments

  

  British consumers are no longer to be charged extra for paying by debit or credit card, the government has said. From January next year, businesses will not be allowed to add any surcharges for card payments. The worst offenders currently are airlines and food delivery apps, and small businesses which typically add a fee for cards.

• Wednesday, July 19th 2017 - 10:57 UTC

  Argentina's central bank hikes interest rates to combat high inflation

  

  Argentina's central bank hiked interest rates on its short-term securities on Tuesday in its monthly auction, the second such increase in the past three months as it seeks to soak up pesos and rein in stubbornly high inflation.

• Wednesday, July 19th 2017 - 09:18 UTC

  Deeper slowdown for UK economy ahead, anticipate business research centers

  

  The UK economy is on course for an even deeper slowdown as consumer spending and business investment take a hit from uncertainty surrounding the Brexit negotiations, new research has found. Britain’s GDP is expected to drop from 1.8% growth last year to 1.5% in 2017 and to 1.4% in 2018, according to PwC’s UK Economic Outlook.

• Wednesday, July 19th 2017 - 07:04 UTC

  Trump threatens Venezuela with sanctions: Maduro says he will not be intimidated

  

  In a statement released Monday night, President Trump threatened to impose economic sanctions on Venezuela should the nation’s president, Nicolas Maduro, follow through on his pledge to create a “constituent assembly” capable of rewriting Venezuela’s constitution.

• Tuesday, July 18th 2017 - 07:45 UTC

  Temer woos the “beef caucus” by regularizing land-grabs in the Brazilian Amazon

  

  Land-grabbing follows a long well-established pattern in the Brazilian Amazon, closely linked to lobbies and political interests, and again as in previous circumstances, this time embattled president Michel Temer signed legislation, previously approved by Congress, which regularizes such illegal claims.