State-owned oil giant Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, said its board approved budget cuts totaling 62 billion pesos (4.15 billion) and the postponement of some big projects in light of the sharp drop in oil prices.
It may be difficult to look beyond the current pricing environment for oil, but the depletion of low-cost reserves and the increasing inability to find major new discoveries ensures a future of expensive oil.
Oil company GeoPark which operates in Magallanes, extreme south of Chile, reiterated its commitment and long term investment in the region but also announced the redundancy of 30 staff, first time in twelve years, because of a restructuring of the company to the new global oil industry scenario.
Colombia's state-run oil producer Ecopetrol will drill three offshore wells this year, two off its Caribbean Coast and a third in the Gulf of Mexico, after slashing its offshore exploration budget to 200 million dollars down from 632 million last year, the company said.
Venezuelan Finance minister Rodolfo Marco Torre announced that ”soon there will be important announcements on the issue of gasoline”, underlining that “a piece of candy cannot cost more than a liter of gasoline”.
A Chilean delegation representing the city of Antofagasta visited the UK to explore energy efficiency best practices and new technologies. The visit was an essential component of the “Action Plan for the city of Antofagasta´s Sustainable Energy Strategy” project that the British Embassy Santiago is currently supporting through the Prosperity Fund.
Peru will evaluate a natural gas contract it signed with Pluspetrol in 2005 and is asking the Argentine company to leave a restive Amazonian town following deadly protests, the government said on Thursday. Pluspetrol started exploratory activities in natural gas block 108 last year, upsetting locals in the town of Pichanaki who fear it will lead to pollution and hurt farming.
Rolls-Royce has said it does not tolerate improper business after the Financial Times reported that the firm had been accused of being caught up in a bribery scandal in Brazil. Ft reported allegations that the company paid bribes for a contract with Brazilian oil firm Petrobras.
Falkland Islands will this month begin to grapple with the big questions about how oil and gas development will impact on their society and culture. The start of a series of focus groups run as part of the Social Effects Monitoring Programme study, led by Regeneris Consulting, and Falkland Island partners Karen Lee and Carolyn Montgomerie, reports the Penguin News in its latest edition.
The new chief executive officer of Brazil's Petrobras said that he has full autonomy to dictate its own fuel-pricing policy and protect cash, even as he questioned the size of losses stemming from a giant corruption scandal.