Energy & Oil

• Friday, February 22nd 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Oil price surge is driven by demand growth, argues IMF

  

  The surge in oil prices this week to over 100 US dollars a barrel is part of a trend of higher oil prices driven largely by sustained growth in demand that is likely to have little effect on global growth, according to an International Monetary Fund spokesperson.

• Friday, February 22nd 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Brazil's proven oil reserves in the range of 12.6 billion barrels

  

  Brazil at the end of 2007 had 12.623 billion barrels in proven oil reserves, the National Petroleum Agency, ANP, said on its Web site this week. Brazil also had 364.99 billion cubic meters of natural gas reserves.

• Wednesday, February 20th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Venezuela and Exxon still distant but seem willing to negotiate

  

  Venezuela agreed on Tuesday to compensate Eni of Italy 700 million US dollars in cash for the takeover of an oil field but warned that Exxon Mobil Corp nationalized assets are worth less than a billion US dollars, far below what the US company is seeking.

• Wednesday, February 20th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Uruguay's energy situation “delicate but not critical”

  

  Uruguay's energy situation is “delicate, but not critical”, however demand is higher than estimated and water reserves although sufficient are not being replenished as would be desirable admitted the country's head of the government owned electricity corporation.

• Tuesday, February 19th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Computers stolen from Petrobras had “state secrets”

  

  Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said the computers and hard drives stolen from the state oil company Petrobras last month contained information considered a “state secret”.

• Tuesday, February 19th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Insufficient gas and brownouts could hit Brazil and Argentina

  Brazil reiterated it does not have the capacity to give up a percentage of the contracted Bolivian gas provision thus helping to improve the Argentine energy situation.

• Monday, February 18th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  North Falkland 3D seismic data, an invitation for oil rig

  

  Prospects identified from 850 square kilometers of 3D seismic in the North Falkland basin (South Atlantic) could contain 1.9 billion barrels of un-risked recoverable oil, estimated directors of Rockhopper Exploration PLC.

• Friday, February 15th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Feb 21 part of YPF shares back under Argentine control

  Spain's Repsol YPF announced Thursday that the sale of 14.9% of its affiliate in Argentina to that country's businessman Enrique Eskenazi will become effective next February 21.

• Friday, February 15th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Argentine-Brazilian group after Esso assets in Mercosur

  Argentine group Eurnekian and Brazilian investment fund GP Investimentos have tied up to launch an offer to buy the Latin American Esso downstream assets of Exxon Mobil Corp, said a spokesman for Eurnekian in Buenos Aires.

• Friday, February 15th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Lack of Argentine gas forces red numbers on Magallanes region

  

  Magallanes Region economic activity plummeted 22.7% during the last quarter of 2007 which meant the region ended the twelve month period with a surprising negative performance of 11.5%, according to the local chapter of Chile's National Statistics Institute, INE.