Energy & Oil

• Friday, November 13th 2015 - 09:10 UTC

  Petrobras reports huge 3Q losses: sharp devaluation of the currency blamed

  

  Brazil's scandal-plagued state oil giant Petrobras on Thursday announced third-quarter losses of about US$ 1 billion, mainly due to the sharp devaluation of the Brazilian currency.Petrobras, mired in a hugely damaging scandal involving bribes and high-level political payoffs, posted losses of 3.76 billion Reais in the quarter, compared with a loss of 5.3 billion Reais a year earlier.

• Thursday, November 12th 2015 - 08:07 UTC

  Petrobras striking workers consider salary offer but insist the company must reverse investment cuts

  

  Brazil's energy giant Petrobras offered striking workers a 9.54% wage hike on Wednesday in an effort to end a 10-day strike and prevent it from causing further production losses. But union officials said the deal makes almost no concessions on their most important demands. These include calls on Petrobras to reverse investment cuts and block planned assets sales designed to reduce Petrobras' debt.

• Wednesday, November 11th 2015 - 06:11 UTC

  Argentina's Supreme Court orders YPF to publicly release 2013 contract with Chevron

  

  Argentina's supreme court has ordered state-controlled YPF to publicly release all clauses of a 2013 contract with Chevron to develop shale oil in the country's vast Vaca Muerta formation. In a 3-1 ruling, the justices sided with opposition Socialist Senator Hector Ruben Giustiniani, ruling that the state's 51% stake in the firm effectively makes it a public company subject to transparency laws.

• Tuesday, November 10th 2015 - 07:39 UTC

  Oil megaprojects won't stay on the shelf for long

  

  One casualty of the oil price downturn could be the megaproject. For years, as conventional oil reserves depleted and became increasingly hard to find, oil companies ventured into far-flung locales to find new sources of production.

• Tuesday, November 10th 2015 - 06:49 UTC

  Another can of worms in Petrobras: 1.2bn dollars for a century old Texas refinery

  

  Brazilian officials are investigating allegations that Petrobras overpaid hundreds of millions of dollars for the Pasadena, Texas, refinery and funneled money into a massive kickback scheme that's led to dozens of convictions and arrests and fueled calls for the impeachment of president Dilma Rousseff, who chaired the company until 2010.

• Saturday, November 7th 2015 - 07:48 UTC

  YPF focusing on boosting natural gas production; investors waiting for “post-election clarity”

  

  Argentina's state-run energy company YPF said on Friday it plans to focus on boosting natural gas production in 2016, while also pursuing a gradual reduction in drilling and completion costs and looking for more partnerships for shale and tight play projects. It also admitted that potential investors are waiting for post-election clarity on economic and energy policies before “making any decisions”.

• Friday, November 6th 2015 - 14:16 UTC

  Petrobras strike strong support fuelled by resistance to sale of assets and cutting investments

  

  Brazilian union leaders say stronger than expected support for a strike at Petrobras is due to growing worker opposition to a creeping privatization of the state oil company. The strike, which began on Sunday, has become the biggest stoppage in two decades at Petrobras and shows workers back union efforts to renationalize the company and cut foreign participation in the oil industry, union leaders say.

• Tuesday, November 3rd 2015 - 09:58 UTC

  Brazil oil workers stage national strike and stopped operations at 22 rigs

  

  Oil workers staging a national strike in Brazil said on Monday they had stopped all operations at 22 of state-controlled oil giant Petrobras's 44 rigs in the Campos basin, an offshore area that accounts for about 80% of the country's oil output. Oil workers declared a strike on Sunday.

• Tuesday, November 3rd 2015 - 06:42 UTC

  Petrobras import of US condensate help address refining shortage, but faces tax controversy in Brazil

  

  Petrobras’ move to start buying processed U.S. condensate will help output at its domestic refining network, but the purchases have exposed a wrinkle in Brazilian law that could allow the state-run company to import the light oil duty-free, tax lawyers and traders said. Typically, condensate is considered a very light form of crude found in oil or natural gas wells and in raw form is not taxable in Brazil.

• Tuesday, November 3rd 2015 - 06:20 UTC

  Falklands sports clubs receive significant donation from Argos Ltd

  

  Three Falkland Islands sports clubs benefitted from the generosity of local business Argos Ltd with a donation of £25,000 via the Overseas Games Association (FIOGA).