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In Venezuela, Campaign Takes the Form of a Fire Sale

CARACAS, Venezuela — The transportation minister appeared on live television from an auto-parts store, trumpeting prices that had been slashed in half, at least. A top regional official, broadcasting from another shop, boasted that prices of toys and other goods had been cut to the bone. From an appliance store, the commerce minister called on shoppers to buy washers and dryers at new, low-low prices. This week, the entire cabinet of President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela has been waging a battle against soaring inflation like a socialist version of Crazy Eddie, the onetime electronics chain store famous in New York for its goofy 1980s ads that trumpeted its “insane” prices. It is all part of a fever-pitch campaign to quell frustration with the economy by forcing retailers to slash prices, giving a much-needed shot of adrenaline to Mr. Maduro’s government just weeks before municipal elections that opponents want to […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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PDVSA to Sell $4.5 Billion in Bonds Amid Pre-Election Shortages

Petroleos de Venezuela SA will sell $4.5 billion in bonds this week in the first issuance by a state entity since May 2012 as the government seeks to bolster shrinking reserves and curb the world’s fastest inflation. PDVSA, as the state oil company is known, will sell debt privately to selected state and private buyers to pay off debts and boost output, company President Rafael Ramirez told reporters in Caracas today. The securities will have several maturity dates, he said, without providing more details. The government is seeking to boost dollar supply to pay for imports and offset a shortage of locally produced goods that has helped spur 54 percent annual inflation. President Nicolas Maduro dispatched the military to take over a retail chain last weekend and warned other businesses to cut prices to “fair” levels as the country gears up for municipal elections next month and the Christmas […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Brazil to Boost Oil Exports as Output Triples, IEA Says

Brazil will triple oil production by 2035 and become a major exporter as it develops the Americas’ largest discoveries in almost four decades, the International Energy Agency said. Latin America’s largest economy will produce 6 million barrels a day in 2035 and account for one-third of the increase in global crude output, the Paris-based agency said. The IEA forecasts that Brazil will be the world’s sixth-largest producer, up from 12th now. The new production will come mostly from deposits trapped under a layer of salt more than two miles beneath the Atlantic Ocean’s floor, the so-called pre-salt fields. Deep-water fields including Libra and Lula, the largest oil discoveries in the Western Hemisphere since Mexico ’s Cantarell field in 1976, have attracted investments from Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) and Total SA. (FP) “The increase in oil and gas production is dependent on highly complex and capital-intensive deepwater developments, requiring […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Venezuela’s Maduro poised to get decree powers

AP Photo CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s National Assembly on Tuesday stripped an opposition lawmaker of her immunity from prosecution in a case of alleged corruption, clearing the way for the legislature to grant the president special power to enact laws by decree. President Nicolas Maduro has said he will use the extra authority to intensify actions against opponents and businesses that he says are waging “economic war” trying to destabilize the South American country. As a result of the assembly’s vote, which was widely expected, lawmaker Maria Aranguren will have to step down while she faces prosecution on what she says are trumped up embezzlement charges. Aranguren, who broke with the late President Hugo Chavez’s government in 2012, will be replaced by a lawmaker more in line with the government’s wishes, likely giving the president the crucial 99th vote he needs to ensure passage of the decree powers. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Venezuela's Maduro poised to get decree powers

AP Photo CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s National Assembly on Tuesday stripped an opposition lawmaker of her immunity from prosecution in a case of alleged corruption, clearing the way for the legislature to grant the president special power to enact laws by decree. President Nicolas Maduro has said he will use the extra authority to intensify actions against opponents and businesses that he says are waging “economic war” trying to destabilize the South American country. As a result of the assembly’s vote, which was widely expected, lawmaker Maria Aranguren will have to step down while she faces prosecution on what she says are trumped up embezzlement charges. Aranguren, who broke with the late President Hugo Chavez’s government in 2012, will be replaced by a lawmaker more in line with the government’s wishes, likely giving the president the crucial 99th vote he needs to ensure passage of the decree powers. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Ecuador Court Affirms and Halves Chevron Judgment

QUITO, Ecuador—Ecuador’s highest court affirmed an environmental verdict against Chevron Corp. CVX -0.89% Chevron Corp. U.S.: NYSE $ 120.00 -1.08 -0.89% Nov. 12, 2013 4:00 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 6.05M AFTER HOURS $ 120.06 +0.06 +0.05% Nov. 12, 2013 7:47 pm Volume (Delayed 15m): 867,941 P/E Ratio 9.75 Market Cap $232.86 Billion Dividend Yield 3.33% Rev. per Employee $3,588,150 11/12/13 Chevron, Brazil’s Petrobras St… 11/01/13 Chevron Pumps Up Its Spending 11/01/13 The Race for Oil, and Chevron’… More quote details and news » CVX in Your Value Your Change Short position but cut the judgment against the oil giant in half. Ecuador’s National Court of Justice ruled late Tuesday that Chevron must pay $9.5 billion to plaintiffs in the country’s rainforests over decades-old contamination. The verdict had stood at $19 billion, but the court tossed out punitive damages that were imposed in 2011 after Chevron refused to apologize […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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CNPC, PetroChina to Buy Peru Oil, Gas Assets From Petrobras for US$2.6 Bln

By Yvonne Lee HONG KONG–China National Petroleum Corp., the country’s largest integrated oil producer, will pay US$2.6 billion for oil and gas assets in Peru, in the latest foray by China’s state-owned oil firms into Latin America. CNPC and its unit PetroChina Co. (0857.HK) have reached a deal with Brazil’s state-owned Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PBR), or Petrobras, to buy Petrobras Energia Peru S.A., which owns three oil and gas blocks in Peru, the Chinese firm said Wednesday. China has looked to Latin America and Africa in recent years to meet its energy needs, with domestic oil output slowing in the past decade as its fields mature. PetroChina has said it aims for overseas production to account for half of its business by 2015. PetroChina produced a total 67.5 million barrels of oil equivalent overseas in the first half of 2013, up 8% on year and accounting for 9.7% of […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Brazil to Triple Oil Output to 6 Million Barrels/Day by 2035 — IEA

RIO DE JANEIRO–Brazil’s recently discovered offshore oil fields will triple the country’s current crude oil output to six million barrels per day by 2035, making Latin America’s largest country a leading producer and exporter, the International Energy Agency said Tuesday. Brazil discovered billions of barrels of crude trapped under a thick layer of salt beneath the Atlantic Ocean off the country’s southeast coast, finds that will make the country the world’s sixth-largest producer and a major oil exporter, the IEA said. Development of the fields, however, will be complex and expensive when compared with other areas holding large oil reserves such as the Middle East or Russia, the IEA warned. Brazil currently produces about two million barrels of oil per day. In October, Brazil sold rights to develop one of the fields–the Libra prospect–to a group led by state-run energy giant Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PBR, PETR4.BR) that also included […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Venezuela arrests looters, store bosses in ‘economic war’

CARACAS (Reuters) – President Nicolas Maduro’s government announced arrests of both store managers and looters on Sunday as part of what it calls an "economic war" in Venezuela between the socialist state and unscrupulous businessmen. In a major pre-Christmas campaign reminiscent of the late President Hugo Chavez’s dramatic style, Maduro has sent soldiers to "occupy" one chain of electronics stores and inspectors into scores of others to check for price-gouging. Thousands of Venezuelans have been flocking to electronics stores, hoping to take advantage of new "fair prices" the government is imposing, sometimes half the previous cost. However, scenes of looting on Saturday at a store belonging to the occupied electronics chain, Daka, have left many Venezuelans ashamed and fueled opposition claims that Maduro is stirring chaos rather than defending the poor. Authorities announced that five managers, from the local Daka, JVG and Krash companies, would be prosecuted on charges […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Venezuela arrests looters, store bosses in 'economic war'

CARACAS (Reuters) – President Nicolas Maduro’s government announced arrests of both store managers and looters on Sunday as part of what it calls an "economic war" in Venezuela between the socialist state and unscrupulous businessmen. In a major pre-Christmas campaign reminiscent of the late President Hugo Chavez’s dramatic style, Maduro has sent soldiers to "occupy" one chain of electronics stores and inspectors into scores of others to check for price-gouging. Thousands of Venezuelans have been flocking to electronics stores, hoping to take advantage of new "fair prices" the government is imposing, sometimes half the previous cost. However, scenes of looting on Saturday at a store belonging to the occupied electronics chain, Daka, have left many Venezuelans ashamed and fueled opposition claims that Maduro is stirring chaos rather than defending the poor. Authorities announced that five managers, from the local Daka, JVG and Krash companies, would be prosecuted on charges […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple