Petrobas FPSO docks in Brazil
The second of identical twin FPSOs for national operator Petrobas docked in Brazil this week.
Brazil
Brazil sees $870 million in exploration spending from auction
Oil companies are expected to invest about 2.8 billion reais ($870 million) to complete minimum exploration work at concessions Brazil plans to auction in October, according to the country’s oil regulator. Signing bonuses for the offshore and onshore blocks should reach 979 million reais, Marcelo Castilho, the bidding superintendent at Brazil’s oil regulator, known as ANP, said Thursday at a seminar in Rio de Janeiro.
Brazil gives clearance to Shell’s purchase of BG
Brazil gave the green light to oil major Royal Dutch Shell to buy smaller rival BG, advancing the $70 billion merger, the largest of the past decade, closer to completion in early 2016. Shell is set to become the largest foreign operator offshore Brazil after it buys BG, so the clearance from the country was a crucial step to complete the merger on time. Brazil's competition authority CADE said on Wednesday it had given preliminary approval to the transaction "without restrictions." BG said that if no appeals were lodged or referrals made in the next 15 days, CADE’s clearance would become final. A spokesman for Shell confirmed the approval and the 15-day appeals period.
Brazil fire sale from Petrobras to vale seen driving IPO revival
Brazil has a “For Sale” sign in its front yard. Saddled with debt and an economic downturn, companies from builders to miners are opening their doors to bargain hunters. The government, aiming to win back investors and stave off a ratings downgrade, may back as much as 20 billion reais ($6.3 billion) in IPOs by state-run companies this year. Together, that’s set to help Brazil regain some of the momentum seen in the public offering and M&A markets late last decade, when Brazil was a darling of international investors.
A New York pizza man’s Brazil nightmare and the mess it exposed
Sei Shiroma is, frankly, a tiny player in Brazil’s $2trillion economy. A 29-year-old immigrant from New York, he runs a pizzeria out of the ground floor of an old apartment building near downtown Rio de Janeiro. The place seats, when tightly packed, maybe 10 people. But Shiroma’s saga as an aspiring entrepreneur, and the bitter attitude it instilled in him, underscore one of the great ills plaguing Latin America’s biggest economy. It can be excruciatingly painful to open -- and then operate -- a business in Brazil. Shiroma refers to the months he spent last year supervising construction and tracking down documents needed to open the restaurant as the worst time of his life. And then he delivers a damning verdict: When he expands his business, he may go somewhere in Europe rather than trying to open another pizzeria in Brazil. “I’m still recuperating emotionally,” Shiroma says. While Brazil’s long slide into its worst recession in 25 years has any number of high-profile causes -- from ballooning federal debt to the corruption scandal paralyzing the oil industry -- the government’s inability to untangle this bureaucratic mess is a key factor too, acting as an impediment to investment. It is one of the many structural reforms the country failed to address during the boom years of the previous decade, when soaring prices for its commodity exports papered over the gaping holes in the economy.
Opinion: Next year we will be millionaires!
As the balloon bursts in Brazil and the party is over a lot of companies will be hit.
Brazil government expects Petrobras to lose key oil rights, report says
Brazil's government expects a bill ending state-run Petrobras' dominant role in key offshore oil areas to pass Congress, reversing one of President Dilma Rousseff's signature policies, a source told Reuters on Thursday. The bill, which is before Brazil's Senate, is likely to pass and also win approval in the Chamber of Deputies, Brazil's lower house, said the source, who works at the Presidential Palace and has direct knowledge of government thinking. "There's nothing the government can do," said the source, who asked for anonymity because permission to speak with the press had not been given. "It knows it can't stop this defeat."
Brazil’s Petrobras mulls sale of ethanol plants, report says
Brazilian state-run oil company Petrobras is looking to sell some of its biofuel assets as it tries to raise cash to cover investment for new offshore oilfields and service its debt, Reuters reported, citing two sources. The company, whose $125 billion of debt is the biggest of any oil company and the third-largest of any non-financial enterprise, plans to sell as much as $13.7 billion of assets by the end of 2016. The first source, who has direct knowledge of Petrobras' plans, said the company's ethanol plants, which transform sugarcane into fuel, were the most likely area of the business to be sold. Petrobras has nine ethanol plants and five biodiesel plants.
Second Petrobas director sentenced
A former international director at state-run oil firm Petrobas has been sentenced to five years in prison. Nestor Cervero is the second person to be convicted in the ongoing corruption scandal. Federal Judge Sergio Moro said there was evidencd that Cervero has created a company, as a front, to launder money.
Brazil oil group seeks changes to local-content rules
Brazil's national oil-industry association, IBP, released a list of suggestions for regulatory changes on Monday that it hopes will boost exploration activity in the wake of falling oil prices, high costs, delays and a graft scandal at state-run oil company Petrobras.
Karoon Gas confirms Santos oil discovery
Karoon Gas Australia has confirmed its oil discovery in Brazil's offshore Santos basin. The company said it had encountered a 213 metre gross oil column in the Echidna-1 exploration well from wireline pressure data across the Paleocence and Maastrichtian aged reservoir intervals. Karoon managing director, Robert Hosking, said:"The Echidna discovery represents another significant achievement for Karoon. Echidna adds incremental resource to Karoon's discovered Kangaroo oil field which further supports Karoon's ambitions to develop an integrated production hub in the Santos Basin."
Treasurer held in Petrobas corruption case
Police detained the treasurer of Brazil’s governing party in a wide-ranging investigation into corruption at state-run oil giant Petrobras. The Workers’ Party said later he had asked to resign from the post. Joao Vaccari Neto was detained in Sao Paulo as he was heading out for an early morning jog, police told a news conference in the southern city of Curitiba, where the investigation is being led. An arrest warrant also was issued for Mr Vaccari’s sister-in-law, and his wife was questioned in connection with a series of unidentified deposits in her account that investigators suspect might be related to a bribery scheme at Petrobras.
Petrobras board to review delayed 2014 audited results April 22
Petroleo Brasileiro SA plans to release 2014 audited financial results April 22 after a five-month delay, averting a potential acceleration of debt payments. The Rio de Janeiro-based oil producer, at the center of Brazil’s largest corruption scandal, said Monday it will present the long-delayed financial results to its board and release them after approval. “The company expects to release these financial statements after the meeting, subject to a decision by the Board of Directors,” Petrobras said in a regulatory filing.
Shell buying BG to ease Petrobras stress in key Brazilian arena
Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s acquisition of BG Group Plc not only increases access to deep-water fields in Brazil, but provides greater heft in dealings with Petroleo Brasileiro SA, the local partner mired in a graft probe. With Petrobras engulfed in Brazil’s largest ever corruption scandal, BG and other partners are struggling to communicate with the state-controlled producer’s management to address delays to development plans. For BG and Galp Energia SGPS SA, which are relying on future Brazilian output to bolster cash flow, this uncertainty is a bigger problem than for Shell, which has a larger and more diversified portfolio. “Shell has more patience and financial strength,” Juan Ramon Fernandez Arribas, an independent analyst based in Madrid, said in an e-mail. “It can wait more to develop its projects and is a more solid operator than BG. That’s a big advantage in the discussions with Petrobras.”
Petrobas sells of Argentina assets
Petrobas has sold off assets in Argentina in a $101million deal with Compania General de Combustibles. The company will sell all its assets in the Austral Basin, in the Santa Cruz province and is the first disposal of a Petrobas asset under the 2015-2016 divestment plan.
Engineering firm files for bankruptcy after Petrobas scandal
Engineering company Galvao Engenharia has filed for bankruptcy following the Petrobas scandal. The firm had its payments cut off by the state-run oil company following an alleged corruption scheme. However Grupo Galvao, the firm's parent company, said it had no part in the alleged corruption involving Petrobas.
Petrobas appoints new chairman amidst growing unrest
Brazilian state-run oil company Petrobas has appointed a new chairman. The company named Luciano Coutinho, head of the country's state development bank BNDES, as a replacement for Guido Mantega.
S&P Cuts Petrobras’s credit-rating outlook amid corruption probe
Petroleo Brasileiro SA had the outlook on its credit rating cut by Standard & Poor’s as the oil producer faces difficulties in financing investments amid Brazil’s largest-ever corruption probe. S&P cut the outlook on Petrobras’s BBB- rating, the lowest investment grade, to negative from stable, according to a statement Monday. The announcement comes a month after Moody’s Investors Service chopped its rating on the state-run oil producer by two levels to junk grade.
Protests in Brazil amid fall-out from Petrobas scandal
Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians have marched peacefully in more than 150 cities around the country to demand President Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment and to criticise government corruption amid a sprawling graft inquiry at state-run oil firm Petrobras. The biggest of the protests, held on the 30th anniversary of Brazil’s return to democracy after a long military regime, took place in Sao Paulo, an opposition stronghold where some 210,000 gathered on a main avenue, according to the polling institute Datafolha, one of the only entities in Brazil that makes scientific crowd estimates. Large rallies were also seen in the capital Brasilia, the southern city of Porto Alegre and in Rio de Janeiro.
Brazil’s president calls for patience amid oil corruption probe
Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff has asked citizens for patience as the country deals with a flagging economy and a widening corruption probe involving the state-run oil company and dozens of top politicians. In a nationally televised address, Ms Rousseff said her government will move to fix a serious fiscal problem after posting a primary budget deficit for the first time in more than a decade.
Statoil submit plans for second phase of Brazilian Peregrino project
One of Norway's biggest oil and gas companies has submitted plans for the second phase of their Brazilian offshore project. Statoil, in partnership with Sinochem, submitted a plan of development to the South American's country's National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) in Rio de Janeiro on January 30.
Six fatalities now confirmed following explosion in Brazil
BW Offshore said six people are now confirmed to have died following an explosion onboard an FPSO (Floating Production, Storage and Offloading ) unit in Brazil. Three crew members are still missing following the incident one week ago with search and rescue operations continuing. Another five personnel are continuing to receive medical attention in hospital, the company said.
Brazilian consortium awarded turbine contract
The Força Eólica do Brasil consortium have awarded Gamesa a contract to supply 42 state-of-the-art wind turbines to the three wind farms in Brazil. Gamesa will install the G114 wind turbines with a unit capacity of two megawatts (MW) at the windfarms and will be in charge of supplying, transporting, installing and commissioning 15 wind turbines for the Santana 1 windfarm.
Petrobas FPSO moved to fitting-out yard
Petrobas has moved the hull of P-66, the first of a series of eight sister FPSOs (floating production, storage and offloading units) being constructed to meet oil production demands offshore Brazil. It is also the first FPSO hull completely built in the country.
BG Group and Petrobas submit DoC for Iara
A Declaration of Commerciality (DoC) has been submitted to the Brazilian National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels for three separate oil and gas accumulations in Brazil. BG Group said it had, along with its partner Petrobas, submitted the application which it believes is another major milestone in the first phase of development of BG Group’s interests in the region. The Iara area is located approximately 250 kilometres off the coast of Rio De Janeiro in water depths of around 2,270 metres.