Argentine state-controlled energy company YPF on Thursday announced a shale oil find in the southwestern province of Neuquen in Patagonia. The discovery was made at the Agrio formation, according to CEO Miguel Galuccio, who said at a press conference that production operations will be carried from the neighboring province of Mendoza.
Brazil's Petrobras sold its stake in a Bolivian natural gas pipeline operator, continuing a string of asset sales aimed at generating cash for development of offshore oil fields at home. The Brazilian giant said it sold its 44.5% stake in Transierra to Bolivian state-owned YPFB for 106.7 million dollars.
Finland-based Arctech Helsinki Shipyard has been contracted to build three icebreaking stand-by vessels for Russian shipping company Sovcomflot, for a total cost of 380 million dollars.
Second quarter profits for Brazil's Petrobras dropped 20% compared to the same period one year earlier, the state-run oil giant said. Petrobras recorded profits of 4.96 billion Reais (about 2.22 billion dollars) in the quarter, compared to 6.2 billion Reais (nearly 3 billion) for the same period in 2013.
Venezuela’s state-run oil company PDVSA has started using China Citic Bank to collect money from crude and fuel sales instead of Portugal’s Banco Espirito Santo, according to media reports in Caracas.
Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto signed on Monday a package of landmark energy reform bills, ending the 76-year-old state monopoly on oil drilling and reopening the sector to foreign companies.
Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff admitted on Monday the government could increase domestic fuel prices at refineries by up to 6% after the October presidential election. The increase of 5.5% and 6% is a preliminary calculation and is geared to help prop the finances of the government managed oil and gas giant Petrobras.
Brazilian oil output reached a record 2.246 million barrels per day (bpd) in June and exceeded the previous record of 2.231 million bpd in January 2012, the National Agency of Petroleum (ANP) reported. Output is up 2.6% from May 2014 and 6.9% June on June.
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has approved a 40.9 million dollars loan from its ordinary capital and 25 million from the Canada Climate Fund, which is administered by the Bank, to finance the private sector in Uruguay in the construction, operation and maintenance of a photovoltaic solar energy plant and its related facilities.
Oil and gas explorer GeoPark expects to end the year having drilled 35 wells in Chilean Magallanes and Tierra del Fuego, which must be added to the 560 million dollars the company has invested in the region since it began operations in 2006, said the company in an economic impact report presented by consultants Gemines.