Petrobras Says Investors Are Suing Its Subsidiaries in Netherlands
Brazil's state-run oil company, Petroleo Brasileiro SA, said on Tuesday in a securities filing that a group of investors is suing two of its subsidiaries in a court in the Netherlands. The Stichting Petrobras Compensation Foundation, a Netherlands-based claim foundation, alleges investors had losses with shares in Petrobras, as the company is known, due to the largest-ever corruption investigation in Brazil involving the company. Petrobras said in the filing that "Brazilian authorities recognize the company was a victim" of the corruption scheme. (Reporting by Tatiana Bautzer; Editing by Alan Crosby)
Crews Seek Source of Saskatchewan Oil Spill
The oil spill clean up on an aboriginal reserve in western Canada continued on Tuesday as crews prepared to excavate the site to determine the source of the leak, the provincial government said. A pipeline in the province of Saskatchewan leaked 200,000 liters (52,834 gallons) of oil last week, according to the government, which was notified of the leak on Friday. The breach leaked the oil onto farmland at the Ocean Man First Nation, 140 km (87 miles) southeast of the provincial capital of Regina. No residences are close to the spill site but it is near a cemetery which is considered sacred land by the band.
Court rejects bid to enforce Ecuador judgment on Chevron Canada
A Toronto court has rejected a bid by Ecuadorian villagers to enforce a judgment in their home country against Chevron Canada Ltd, ruling the subsidiary is not liable for parent Chevron Corp, the U.S. oil major said on Friday. A Canadian lawyer for the villagers in the environment-damage lawsuit said the ruling is "not a modern-day view," and that an appeal will be filed. Residents of Ecuador's Lago Agrio region have been trying to force Chevron to pay for water and soil contamination caused from 1964 to 1992 by Texaco, which Chevron acquired in 2001. The villagers obtained a $9 billion judgment against Chevron in Ecuador in 2011.
North Dakota Capitol Locked Down Due to Pipeline Protests
North Dakota's Highway Patrol locked down the state capitol on Monday as more than two dozen protested the Dakota Access Pipeline nearby, according to local media. A request for comment from Governor Jack Dalrymple's office, which is on the first floor of the capitol, was not immediately returned. The Bismarck Tribune newspaper reported that the capitol's front doors had been locked as protesters prayed nearby on the lawn. (Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Alan Crosby)
Petrobras Posts Surprising Loss amid Massive Asset Impairments
State-controlled Petróleo Brasileiro SA posted an unexpected third-quarter net loss on Thursday after drastically reducing the value of oil fields, petrochemical and logistics assets amid a severe downsizing and weak oil prices. In a securities filing, Petrobras said that it lost a net 16.458 billion reais ($4.9 billion) last quarter, almost five times more than a year earlier. The shortfall compares with the average consensus estimate for profit of 1.517 billion reais compiled by Thomson Reuters. The result came as Chief Executive…
Ex-Brazilian Finance Minister to Stand Trial in Petrobras Graft Case
A former Brazilian finance minister and chief of staff for successive Workers Party (PT) governments was ordered on Thursday to stand trial on corruption and money laundering charges in an expanding graft probe around state-run oil company Petrobras. Anti-corruption Judge Sergio Moro ruled that prosecutors had presented sufficient evidence to warrant a trial for Antonio Palocci, a party founder and confidant of two presidents, who was arrested in late September and has been jailed since. Investigators allege Palocci conspired with construction firm Odebrecht SA to pay 128 million reais ($39.5 million) from 2008 to 2013 to the party…
Exxon Asks Court to Toss NY Climate Change Case
Exxon Mobil Corp asked a federal court on Monday to throw out a subpoena from New York State that would force the oil company to hand over decades of documents as part of a wide-ranging inquiry into whether it misled investors about climate change risks. The filing means Exxon has now requested the U.S. District Court in Fort Worth, Texas for injunctions against two major climate subpoenas: one issued by New York and another from Massachusetts that the company challenged in June. Exxon, which for more than a decade has acknowledged the risks of climate change, has criticized the prosecutors' inquiries as politically motivated.
Alberta Seeks Proposals for Large-scale Solar Farm
The Canadian crude-producing province of Alberta put out a request for proposals for the first large-scale solar farm in western Canada on Thursday as part of its pledge to switch to using 30 percent renewable electricity generation by 2030. Alberta, which is Canada's worst greenhouse gas polluter thanks to its vast oil sands operations, said it is looking for information on the potential cost and best approach for procuring solar power for half of government operations. The government will explore the possibility of replacing two existing green energy contracts that expire by 2017 with solar power.
Chile to Choose from 84 Bids on Massive Energy Contracts
Chile is due to announce on Wednesday the winners of bids to provide around a third of the country's energy needs for two decades from the 2020s as the world's top copper miner seeks to encourage renewables and cut high prices. Divided into five blocks, the winners will supply a total 12,430 gigawatts per hour annually for 20 years from 2021 and 2022. The massive auction - the biggest in the country's history - has attracted 84 bids from home and abroad, including European firms Gas Natural, Ibereolica, Acciona Energia , AustrianSolar, wpd and Solairedirect.
Canadian Banks Not over the Worst Impact from Oil Crunch
Canada's banks are not over the worst of the impact from the oil crunch and face further hefty losses as energy firms struggle to pay back loans and consumers in oil-producing regions suffer, analysts and investors say. The country's biggest five lenders, including Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto-Dominion Bank and Bank of Nova Scotia, all set aside more funds to cover bad loans to oil & gas firms in the second quarter but their provisions remain relatively low compared to U.S. peers. Although Scotiabank, which has the biggest exposure to the oil & gas sector among Canadian banks at 3.4 percent of its total lending…
Canadian Oil Exports Drop, Supply Hunt on Amid Wildfires
In a sign the massive Alberta wildfire is taking a toll on oil transport, Canadian crude exports to the United States dropped 12 percent last week, while another blend of Canadian sweet crude oil rallied as concerns grow about supply. Overall, trading in Canadian crude was quiet, as the second half of the month is generally inactive. Hot and dry weather and strong winds were expected to push the wildfire burning near Fort McMurray, Alberta eastward on Wednesday, continuing to threaten facilities and work camps in Canada's prized oil sands. With the fire projected to grow further, producers are starting to scramble for needed oil supply.
Algerian Crude Returns to US East Coast
Phillips 66 has purchased a cargo of Algerian crude oil for its Bayway refinery in New Jersey for the first time since 2013, two sources said, the latest U.S. refiner on the East Coast to shun domestic crudes in favor of cheaper imports. The rare shipment suggests East Coast refiners are ramping up efforts that started in the past year to shift to a diet of foreign crudes as the era of cheaper domestic supplies continues to fade. A Panamax-sized vessel named Energy Century carrying about 433,000 barrels of Saharan Blend crude oil arrived in New York Harbor on Monday after leaving the Algerian port of Skikda on March 29…
US Imports Rare Bolivian Condensate Cargo
The United States imported a 272,000-barrel cargo of Bolivian condensate bought by trading firm Trafigura last week after more favorable crude spreads prompted larger purchases of foreign oil last month, according to traders and ThomsonReuters data. Refining and trading companies in the United States turned to crude and condensate imports in February to find cheap oil after the arbitrage opened as a result of an inversion in the spread between benchmark U.S. crude oil prices and Brent. Purchases of African crudes increased to 11.66 million barrels in February, the highest volume since October including Nigerian condensate, according to the same data.
SoCalGas to Be Arraigned over LA Area Methane Leak
Southern California Gas Co is to be arraigned on criminal charges on Wednesday over a huge methane leak near Los Angeles that forced thousands of residents from their homes, officials said. SoCalGas, a division of San Diego-based Sempra Energy , faces four misdemeanor charges for failing to report the release of hazardous materials from Oct. 23 to Oct. 26, and discharging air contaminants beginning on Oct. 23. Attorneys for SoCalGas will attend Wednesday's arraignment in Los Angeles County Superior Court in Santa Clarita, company spokesman Javier Mendoza said.
Landmark US LNG Exports Delayed
The long-awaited first liquefied natural gas exports from the lower 48 U.S. states will have to wait another month or two due to mechanical problems at the Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana, Cheniere Energy Partners LP said Thursday. Cheniere said it expects to export the first cargo from the plant in late February or March. The company had expected that cargo to leave port in late January. With expected growth in pipeline exports to Mexico and LNG exports to the world, the United States expects to transition from a net importer of gas to a net exporter by 2017 as the nation's shale gas production continues to grow, according to federal energy forecasts.
Democrats Steadfast in Demands for Axing US Oil Export Ban
U.S. Senate Democrats on Tuesday laid out a list of demands they seek before making any deal to end the 40-year-old ban on crude oil exports in the wide-ranging government funding bill. With oil prices falling to nearly seven-year lows of less than $40 a barrel, producers are desperate to open crude sales to global markets. They say lifting the ban would give U.S. allies an alternative to Russia and OPEC countries for oil, breathe life into the drilling industry, and increase U.S. energy security. Opponents say it would hurt jobs at refineries…
Verde Adds Petrobras Bonds, Warns Debt Too High
Verde Asset Management, Brazil's largest hedge fund, stepped up purchases of state-controlled oil producer Petróleo Brasileiro SA bonds in October to take advantage of high yields, but warned that the company is not acting with sufficient urgency to cut debt. In a monthly letter to investors on Monday, money managers led by Luis Stuhlberger said Verde started becoming net-long positioned in bonds of the company known as Petrobras in September as they assessed whether a surge in yields was overdone. The yield on Petrobras' 6.25 percent bond due in March 2024 ended last month at 9.75 percent, compared with 8.15 percent on Aug. 30. The yield peaked on Sept.
Petrobras Likely Lost More Than $5 Bln to Corruption
Corruption-related losses at Brazil's state-run oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA will likely surpass 20 billion reais ($5.3 billion), federal prosecutor Deltan Dallagnol said on Friday. In April, Petrobras also wrote down another 44.6 billion reais of assets. While the additional charges reflected falling oil prices and a weaker Brazilian currency against the dollar, they were also sparked by refineries and other facilities whose value was inflated by the corruption scandal. Prosecutors have accused executives at the nation's top engineering firms of forming a cartel to fix contracts and overcharge Petrobras for work…
Petrobras Says it Was Not Prepared for 'Brusque' Drop in Oil Prices
Brazil's state-run oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA, and the Brazilian oil industry, were not prepared for "such a brusque fall" in petroleum prices, the company's manager of exploration and production Cristina Pinho said at an event in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday. He also called on the Brazilian oil industry as a whole to work together to over come the current crisis sparked by low crude prices. (Reporting by Marta Nogueira; Writing by Caroline Stauffer; Editing by Alan Crosby)
Brazil Requests More Information from Maersk in Petrobras Probe
Denmark's shipping and oil group A.P. Moller-Maersk said one of its employees in Brazil received a request from authorities last month to provide additional information for a corruption investigation at state-run oil firm Petrobras. Prosecutors say Maersk, which first met with Brazilian investigators in July 2014, is one of more than a dozen foreign companies being investigated for possibly paying bribes to former executives at Petrobras and several companies are collaborating with the investigation. A Maersk spokesman said in a statement to Reuters the employee received the request on Aug.
