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Presalt oil and natural gas provide an increasing share of Brazil’s production

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Agência Nacional do Petróleo, Gás Natural e Biocombustíveis In 2013, Brazil produced 2.0 million barrels per day (bbl/d) of crude oil and nearly one trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gross natural gas. Within these figures, the share of production from presalt resources found under thick layers of salt thousands of feet below the ocean’s surface remains small but continues to increase. Crude oil production from the presalt layer was 15% of total production in 2013, a significant increase from 0.4% of total production in 2008 when oil from the presalt was first produced. Similarly, Brazil’s presalt natural gas production represents 14% of total production, up from 0.5% of total production in 2008. Exploration and development of Brazil’s presalt layer began in and around the Tupi field almost a decade ago, with first production in 2008. Further exploration showed hydrocarbon deposits in the presalt layer […]

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Venezuela: Cuban Military Personnel Return Home

Hundreds of Cuban military personnel have reportedly left Venezuela for Cuba, according to unconfirmed reports from former Monagas state Governor Jose Briceno, Diario de Cuba reported Jan. 9. The reason for the movement is unknown. Meanwhile, a group assembled in Caracas’ La Candelaria neighborhood to protest food and goods shortages , El Universal reported. Long waiting lines for basic goods — including corn flour, cooking oil, milk, diapers and deodorant — have become the norm in Venezuela.

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China Boosts Support for Latin Leftists

ENLARGE Venezuela’s Maduro, right, and China’s Xi in Beijing on Wednesday. Andy Wong/Press Pool China pledged billions of dollars of financing to Venezuela and Ecuador, two South American energy exporters battered by falling oil prices, as Beijing moved to secure resources and allies in the region. China has increased its diplomatic clout throughout Latin America by extending over $100 billion in credit to the region since 2005, according to figures from Boston University’s Global Economic Governance Initiative. On Thursday Chinese President Xi Jinping said China’s foreign investment in Latin America would hit $250 billion over the next decade, without offering details. Beijing has become the biggest foreign financier of both Venezuela and Ecuador, two oil-rich, leftist allies eager to help counter U.S. sway in the region. Following a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolás Maduro announced bilateral accords that would bring $20 billion in new […]

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Venezuela: National Police Crack Down On Student Protest

Members of Venezuela’s Bolivarian National Police used tear gas to disperse a student protest at the Catholic University of Tachira in San Cristobal, Tachira state, NTN 24 reported Jan. 7, citing social media reports. At least two protesters were arrested. The previous night, a separate group of protesters used burning tires to block the Pan American Highway in San Cristobal but were eventually dispersed by police as well. Last year’s wave of protests began in Tachira state with student demonstrations against the government of President Nicolas Maduro.

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Failure to stop Petrobras scandal could haunt Brazil’s Rousseff

RIO DE JANEIRO/BRASILIA (Reuters) – When federal investigators first identified signs of corruption at Petrobras in 2009, Dilma Rousseff insisted Brazil’s state-run oil company had nothing to hide. "Petrobras has one of the most accurate accounting standards in the world," said Rousseff, who was then chairwoman of its board and is now Brazil’s president. "If it wasn’t the case, investors would not be seeking out the company as one of the great investment targets." Today, it’s clear her confidence was misplaced. Petrobras now acknowledges it overpaid on contracts for years. Prosecutors say engineering firms paid bribes to win Petrobras contracts, systematically overcharged it to the tune of billions of dollars and funneled a cut of the money to corrupt executives, vendors and political parties, including Rousseff’s ruling Workers’ Party. A Reuters review of a 2009 federal investigation of Petrobras, and interviews with those who conducted it, indicates Rousseff missed […]

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Venezuelan economy slips into recession

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says he’ll outline steps to fix the nation’s economy, as low oil prices push it into recession. File photo UPI CARACAS, Venezuela, Dec. 31 (UPI) — Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said he’d unveil economic reform efforts next year as an economy linked strongly to oil prices slips into recession. The Central Bank of Venezuela said the collapse in oil prices was in part to blame for a 2.3 percent drop in third quarter gross domestic product. That marks three straight quarters of decline for the member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. With a reform agenda in mind, Maduro said that, with Venezuelan oil valued at around $46 per barrel, it was time to usher in an economic overhaul and a time for opportunity. "Awareness and national unity are required," he said. "Widespread debate and national commitment are needed." As part of the agenda, […]

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Venezuela accuses US of starting oil war to ‘destroy’ Russia and Venezuela

Venezuela relies on oil revenue for 96 percent of its hard currency reserves, so  the plunging price of oil — which has dropped by half in the past six months to $48 a barrel — threatens to destabilize its economy. President Nicolas Maduro has a theory about what’s behind the sudden drop. "Did you know there’s an oil war?” Maduro asked the leaders of Venezuela’s state-run businesses in a speech Monday in which he accused the United States of trying to flood the market with shale oil. “And the war has an objective: to destroy Russia. It’s a strategically planned war … also aimed at Venezuela, to try and destroy our revolution and cause an economic collapse," Maduro added. The boom in U.S. shale oil production has pushed down oil prices worldwide, from $96 a barrel just six months ago, but Maduro’s comments say more about the pressure on his government […]

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Venezuela pledges to reform currency controls

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a press conference at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas on December 30, 2014. Venezuela confirmed Tuesday that it has entered recession, while annual inflation topped 63 percent, exacerbating the outlook for an economy already hit by crippling shortages and crashing oil prices. AFP PHOTO/JUAN BARRETO Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s socialist president, pledged to reform tight currency controls as part of a package to revive an oil-dependent economy that is officially in recession trampled by policy paralysis and falling crude prices. “We are going to perfect the currency system,” said Mr Maduro, adding that the details would be revealed in the new year, after putting the blame of the fall in global crude prices on a US-led plan to destabilise Venezuela and, its ally, Russia. Political opponents counter that the anointed successor of the late Hugo Chávez, had stalled on the reforms the Opec country […]

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Doubts deepen over Chinese-backed Nicaragua canal as work starts

MANAGUA (Reuters) – When one of the poorest countries in the Americas and a little-known Chinese businessman said they planned to undertake one of the biggest engineering projects in history, few people took them seriously. A year and a half after the $50 billion project to build a canal across Nicaragua was launched by President Daniel Ortega, a former Marxist guerrilla, the doubts have only grown. Work officially began this week. But reporters hoping to see any evidence of how it would be done in a fraction of the time it took to build the much-shorter Panama Canal, or discover who would pay for it, were left with more questions than answers. At events marking the start of what is meant to be a five- year job, Nicaraguan officials and the Hong Kong-based company behind the canal dodged questions about its financial backers, mounting delays and whether Washington had […]

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Lukoil Sells Stake in Venezuela Project to Rosneft

MOSCOW—Russia’s largest privately owned oil company Lukoil said Tuesday it sold its share in a Venezuelan project to state-controlled oil giant Rosneft. Rosneft, the world’s largest publicly traded oil company, said its share in the National Oil Consortium LLC, the company that is developing the project called PetroMiranda, rose to 80%. Gazprom Neft , the oil arm of Russia’s natural gas monopoly Gazprom, owns 20%. All the three companies are under Western sanctions imposed for Moscow’s policy toward Ukraine.  Rosneft has consistently increased its cooperation with Venezuela, Chief Executive Igor Sechin said. “Taking into account the future decline of shale production in the U.S. and Canada, it is Venezuelan oil that can become the substitutional element for the receding volumes of those markets,” said Mr. Sechin. Lukoil President Vagit Alekperov said the company “is now implementing a number of strategically important projects, both in Russia and abroad. After the […]

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