Energy & Oil

• Tuesday, May 10th 2011 - 09:50 UTC

  Chilean protestors clash with police as regulators approve five-dam project in Patagonia

  

  Chile approved on Monday the construction of a hydroelectric project that would flood Patagonian valleys and become the country’s biggest power generator, sparking violent protests.

• Monday, May 9th 2011 - 18:48 UTC

  Repsol plans to sell an additional 3% of YPF in the Argentine market

  

  Spain’s oil company Repsol plans to sell up to 3% of YPF on the Argentine market as part of a gradual divestment of its stake in that unit, according to company sources.

• Saturday, May 7th 2011 - 04:50 UTC

  Soybean and by products represent 25% of Argentine exports

  

  Argentine overseas sales of soybeans and by products reached 17.3 billion US dollars in 2010, equivalent to 25.4% of total exports, according to the latest report from the country’s statistics office INDEC. In 2009 the soy complex exports represented 23.3%.

• Friday, May 6th 2011 - 17:29 UTC

  Brazil’s inflation peaks in April, but prices should begin slowing down in May

  

  Brazil’s benchmark consumer price index in April exceeded the upper limit of the government’s target range for the first time since 2005 but officials are confident April was a peak and during May the tendency is for inflation to decelerate.

• Friday, May 6th 2011 - 17:26 UTC

  Brazilian automobile industry, still strong, begins to feel the tight money pinch

  

  Automobile production in Brazil fell 4.9% and sales dropped 5.5% in April from March, the national automakers' association said on Friday.

• Friday, May 6th 2011 - 17:24 UTC

  Top US grain processors join the ‘bio-fuel refineries rush’ in Brazil

  Cargill Inc and the world’s largest grain processor Archer-Daniels-Midland Co, are planning to invest about 560 million US dollars in new bio-fuel refineries in Brazil.

• Friday, May 6th 2011 - 17:21 UTC

  US payrolls expanded in April, but jobless rate climbed to 9%

  United States employers in April added more jobs than forecast. Payrolls expanded by 244,000 last month, the biggest gain since May 2010, after a revised 221,000 increase the prior month, the Labour Department said Friday in Washington.

• Friday, May 6th 2011 - 07:20 UTC

  Falklands’ oil companies contract more sophisticated exploration rig

  

  Borders and Southern Petroleum PLC licensed for oil exploration in the Falkland Islands announced Friday the signing of a new rig contract with Ocean Rig under which the Eirik Raude has been replaced by the Leiv Eiriksson.

• Friday, May 6th 2011 - 02:36 UTC

  US jobs market remains soft and unemployment claims rose in April

  

  The number of claims for US unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week, pushed up by auto-plant shutdowns and other unusual events that seasonal variations failed to take into account, the Labour Department said.

• Friday, May 6th 2011 - 01:42 UTC

  Boosted by bio-fuels Brazil increases soy bean and oil processing-refining capacity

  

  Brazil’s soy bean processing volume increased 7% in 2010 over 2009 while at the same time reducing idle capacity given the larger crop and a jump in the production of bio fuels, according to a release from Abiove, (Brazilian association of vegetable oil industries).