Energy & Oil

• Wednesday, January 30th 2019 - 09:14 UTC

  Vale vows to cut 10% iron ore output and decommission ten dangerous sludge dams

  

  Vale SA, the world’s largest iron ore miner, on Tuesday vowed to take as much as 10% of its ore output offline in order to decommission ten more dams like the one that burst last week, killing scores of workers and nearby residents.

• Tuesday, January 29th 2019 - 09:03 UTC

  US tightening the noose: Venezuelan oil proceeds will be withheld from Maduro's government

  

  The US has imposed sanctions on Venezuela's state-owned oil firm PDVSA and urged the country's military to accept a peaceful transfer of power. National Security Adviser John Bolton said President Nicolás Maduro and his allies could “no longer loot the assets of the Venezuelan people”. Efforts by the opposition to unseat Mr Maduro have increased in recent days.

• Tuesday, January 29th 2019 - 08:43 UTC

  Brazilian government considering management overhaul at miner Vale SA

  

  Brazil’s government weighed pushing for a management overhaul at miner Vale SA on Monday as grief over hundreds feared killed by a dam burst turned into anger, with prosecutors, politicians and victims’ families calling for punishment. By Monday, firefighters in the state of Minas Gerais had confirmed 65 people killed by Friday’s disaster, in which a burst tailings dam sent a torrent of sludge into the miner’s offices and the town of Brumadinho.

• Tuesday, January 29th 2019 - 08:36 UTC

  Vale's market value plunges US$ 16,4bn on Monday, following on the dam burst

  

  Brazilian miner Vale SA’s shares plunged on Monday, wiping out nearly 62 billion reais (US$ 16.4 billion) in market value, after a tailing dam collapse on Friday killed at least 65 people and left 292 missing with slim hopes for recovery. Vale shares were down 21.5% in Sao Paulo morning trading, at 44.70 reais. The company suspended dividend payments late on Sunday.

• Monday, January 28th 2019 - 09:18 UTC

  Oil prices fall on Monday as US crude production is anticipated to increase

  

  Oil prices fell on Monday after U.S. energy firms added rigs for the first time this year in a sign that crude production there will rise further. U.S. spot crude oil futures CLc1 were at US$ 53.37 per barrel at 0027 GMT, down 32 cents, or 0.6 percent, from their last settlement.

• Monday, January 28th 2019 - 08:35 UTC

  Brazilians furious with mining company and regulators: 58 dead confirmed and 300 missing

  

  Grief over the hundreds of Brazilians feared lost in a mining disaster on Friday has quickly hardened into anger as victims' families and politicians say iron ore miner Vale SA and regulators have learned nothing from the recent past.

• Friday, January 25th 2019 - 09:59 UTC

  Premier Oil shares up on appraisal of its Zama deposit appraisal in Mexico

  

  Premier Oil shares were up on Thursday after the company updates the market on the successful completion of part of its Zama well appraisal program in the Gulf of Mexico. According to the update, the appraisal revealed 152 metres of net pay encountered above the oil water contact.

• Wednesday, January 23rd 2019 - 08:56 UTC

  Mexican fuel pipeline explosion death toll climbs to 91, and could increase

  

  The death toll from a fuel pipeline explosion in central Mexico last week rose to 91 as Pemex defended its response to one of the deadliest incidents to hit the state-run oil company in years.

• Sunday, January 20th 2019 - 05:07 UTC

  Lopez Obrador vows to end fuel theft; dozens die when thieves puncture gasoline pipeline

  

  Mexico’s president vowed on Saturday to redouble his fight against an epidemic of fuel theft after thieves punctured a pipeline north of Mexico City, causing an explosion that killed at least 73 people and injured 75 others. The blast underscored the deadly perils of the fuel-theft racket, which has cost the government billions of dollars a year and has been the target of a weeks' long crackdown by the administration of Mexico’s new president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

• Thursday, January 17th 2019 - 10:10 UTC

  Petrobras allowed to sell 90% stake in gas pipeline unit, estimated at US$ 7bn

  

  Brazil’s solicitor general has overturned one injunction that prevented state-controlled oil company Petrobras from proceeding with one of its largest divestitures, the government said in a statement.