Swiss File First Charges in 'Car Wash' Probe
Switzerland has pressed charges against a person in a corruption probe of Brazilian state oil company Petrobras and construction firm Odebrecht, the attorney general's office said, adding it was seeking to conclude the case quickly.Prosecutors in Bern on Tuesday said they suspect the person, acting as a financial middleman, of helping bribe public officials and of money laundering in the sprawling "Operation Car Wash" case.It has become one of the biggest corruption affairs in Latin America and resulted in the prosecution and imprisonment of former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva…
Swiss, Brazil Try to Unravel Petrobras Affair
Crimefighters in Switzerland and Brazil pledged to intensify cooperation to resolve the sprawling corruption case linked to state oil firm Petrobras in which around 700 million Swiss francs ($701 million) remain frozen in Switzerland.Switzerland has so far returned roughly 365 million Swiss francs ($365.6 million) to Brazil related to Petrobras and construction firm Odebrecht, the Swiss Office of the Attorney General (OAG) said on Tuesday, including 9 million francs in March.Around 70 related criminal proceedings are under way in Switzerland…
Mexico Plans to Enforce Odebrecht Fines via Seizure
Mexico plans to enforce fines imposed on Odebrecht over corruption allegations by confiscating some $30 million owed by state oil company Pemex to the Brazilian firm, a top official at the public administration ministry said.Christian Ramirez, coordinator-general of the public administration ministry (SFP), told Reuters on Tuesday that he expected Mexico's tax authority to seize the $30 million "in the coming months."Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht has spent the past few years at the center of one of the largest corruption scandals in Latin America…
LyondellBasel Valued Braskem at $11.4 billion
LyondellBasell Industries has valued Brazilian petrochemical company Braskem SA at 41.5 billion reais ($11.4 billion) in an offer to Brazilian conglomerate Odebrecht SA months ago, newspaper Valor Econômico reported on Thursday. LyondellBasell made the offer in February but talks stalled in early May, the paper reported, as the conglomerate tries to refinance its debt with Brazilian lenders. The paper did not say how it obtained the information. The paper said Lyondell was being advised by Morgan Stanley, and Odebrecht by Lazard Ltd.
Odebrecht unit vows to fight sanctions imposed by Mexico
The Mexican unit of Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht said on Monday it will fight the sanctions announced last week by the Mexican government, dismissing them as unfair and unjustified.Mexico banned federal institutions and state governments from doing business with Odebrecht for 2-1/2 years and fined two units of the companies around $30 million each.The government did not detail what was behind the decisions, but officials said they were related to probes into suspected corruption between the firm and Mexican state oil company Pemex.In an open letter in the Mexican newspaper Excelsior,
Ex-Petrobras CEO Bendine Convicted of Corruption in Brazil
Aldemir Bendine, the former chief executive of state-controlled oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA and Banco do Brasil, was found guilty on Wednesday of corruption charges and sentenced by a federal judge to 11 years in prison. Judge Sergio Moro ruled that Bendine used his position at Petrobras to take 3 million reais ($924,527) in bribes from construction firm Odebrecht. "The condemned took his position as CEO of Petrobras amid a corruption scandal and with the expectation that he would solve problems," Moro wrote in his ruling.
First Oil and Contract Start-up for Libra FPSO
Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. announced that its jointly owned floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit, the FPSO Pioneiro de Libra (Libra), has achieved first oil and commenced its 12-year charter contract with a group of international oil companies, including Petrobras, Total, Shell, CNPC and CNOOC Limited, on the Libra oil field where it will perform early well tests. The Libra FPSO unit is the first unit to produce oil on the giant Libra block, which covers more than 1,500 square kilometers in the Santos Basin.
Petrobras Seeks Halt to Odebrecht Drilling after Accident
Brazil's state-controlled oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA has asked Odebrecht's offshore drilling arm to halt operations of a rig, according to a document seen by Reuters on Monday, after an explosion there killed three people in June. Petrobras also threatened to cancel contracts related to the Norbe VIII rig, according to an undated internal memo sent by Roberto Simoes, chief executive of Odebrecht Oil and Gas (OOG), Odebrecht's offshore drilling unit. Contract cancellations would be another blow for Odebrecht…
Former CEO of Brazil's Petrobras Charged with Corruption
Brazilian prosecutors on Tuesday charged the former chief executive officer of state-controlled oil company Petroleo Brasileiro with corruption, alleging he used his position to take bribes from construction firm Odebrecht. Aldemir Bendine served as CEO of Petrobras, as the company is known, between 2015 and 2016, and was brought in to clean up the firm after its central role in Brazil's massive political graft scandal. Bendine, who also led state-owned lender Banco do Brasil SA from 2009 to 2015, was arrested late last month and remained in jail.
Pemex Axes $100 Mln Contract with Odebrecht
Mexican state-owned oil company Pemex said in a filing on Tuesday it canceled a 1.8-billion peso ($100-million) contract with Odebrecht SA, a Brazilian engineering company that has admitted paying bribes in a dozen countries in recent years. Odebrecht has admitted in a settlement with U.S. and Brazilian prosecutors to paying bribes across 12 countries to win contracts. According to the U.S. court ruling, between 2001 and 2016, Odebrecht paid about $788 million in bribes in countries including Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela.
Peru to Auction Natgas Pipeline Project in 2018
Peru is planning to hold a new auction for a natural gas pipeline in the first half of 2018 after rescinding a $5 billion contract for the project with Brazil's scandal-racked Odebrecht, the head of state bidding agency Proinversion said on Thursday. The government rescinded the contract for the proposed 1,134-kilometer (705-mile) pipeline in January after the consortium led by Odebrecht missed a financing deadline amid a growing graft scandal. Proinversion director Alvaro Quijandria said the project's design might change following a feasibility study under way now based on the original plan.
Petrobras Says Platform Fire Briefly Halted Production
A fire on a platform belonging to Brazilian state oil giant Petroleo Brasileiro SA briefly halted oil and gas production late on Sunday, the company said, adding that there had been no injuries or damage. The fire occurred in the Marlim field around 10:30 p.m. local time on Sunday and was put out four minutes later. Petrobras said on Monday that the accident may have been caused by a leak and would be investigated. An explosion on Friday on the NS-32 drillship, operated by Odebrecht Oil and Gas for Petrobas and also located in the Marlim field, killed three workers.
Petrobras Reports Explosion on Drill Ship
Brazil's state-controlled oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA on Friday reported an explosion on the NS 32 drill ship, which is operated by Odebrecht Óleo e Gás, a unit of Odebrecht SA, according to a statement. The explosion wounded four people, three of them with burns and one with mild injuries, according to the statement. There was no subsequent fire after the blast in the Marlim field, Campos basin, and the drill ship is in safe condition, said Petrobras, adding it will investigate the causes of the accident. (Reporting by Marta Nogueira; Writing by Ana Mano)
FPSO to Achieve First Oil from Libra Field in July
Teekay informs that the FPSO Pioneiro de Libra arrived May 17 in Brazilian territorial waters. The FPSO unit, owned through a 50/50 joint venture between Odebrecht Oil & Gas and Teekay Offshore, will be the first to produce oil in the Libra Block which covers more than 1,500 square kilometers in the Santos Basin and has estimated reserves of 8-12 billion barrels of recoverable oil. The first oil is scheduled for July. The unit can operate at water depths of up to 2,400 meters…
Odebrecht O&G Announces Debt Restructuring Deal
Odebrecht Óleo & Gás SA, the offshore oil drilling firm owned by Brazil's Odebrecht SA, reached an agreement with more than 60 percent of its creditors for a restructuring of about $5 billion in debt, it said in a statement on Tuesday. OOG, as the company is known, had told Reuters earlier this month that talks with creditors were in final stages. OOG is among Odebrecht SA subsidiaries struggling with a widespread slowdown in Latin America and restricted access to credit in the wake of a huge corruption scandal. (Reporting by Silvio Cascione)
Brazil Infrastructure Minister Keeps Job, Immunity
A Brazil Supreme Court justice rejected an injunction that sought to remove President Michel Temer's minister in charge of infrastructure investment, Wellington Moreira Franco, who has been named in a corruption investigation. Justice Celso de Mello's ruling on Tuesday also allows Moreira Franco to keep his immunity from prosecution by lower courts. The injunction filed by a leftist opposition party sought to annul his appointment as cabinet minister, arguing that Temer was trying to shield him from prosecution. Mello ruled that was not the case.
Braskem to buy Brazilian firm Cetrel
The Board of Directors of Braskem, the largest petrochemical company in the Americas, authorized the conclusion of an agreement with Odebrecht Utilities to purchase control of Cetrel, a company responsible for the treatment and disposal of effluents and industrial waste, environmental monitoring and water supply for industrial use Of the Company's plants at the Camaçari Petrochemical Complex in Bahia. Under the proposed purchase agreement of 63.7% of Cetrel shares held by Utilities…
Peru Plans to Terminate Odebrecht Pipeline Contract
Peru said Monday that it plans to terminate Brazilian engineering conglomerate Odebrecht's $5 billion natural gas pipeline contract after it said it would miss a key financing deadline for the project. Energy and Mines Minister Gonzalo Tamayo added on local broadcaster RPP that the government would assess the value of the partially-built project and schedule a new auction as soon as possible. The Odebrecht-led consortium that won the rights to build the pipeline in 2014 announced…
Odebrecht Pipeline Group Waiting for Government to End Contract
An Odebrecht-led pipeline consortium in Peru announced that it will not be able to meet a key financing deadline on Monday and is waiting for the government for notification that it will terminate its $5 billion contract, the company said in a statement Friday. Brazilian engineering conglomerate Odebrecht, at the center of a growing bribery scandal in Latin America, has been trying to sell its 55 percent in the project, Gasoducto Sur Peruano, as a condition from banks that would provide a $4.1 billion loan needed for construction.
Peru Says It Will Nix Key Odebrecht Contract If Won through Bribes
Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski said he will terminate a $5 billion natural gas pipeline contract if it is found to have been won with bribes, even if corruption-plagued Brazilian builder Odebrecht exits the project. In a videotaped interview with financial daily Gestion posted online on Tuesday, Kuczynski said some of the $29 million in bribes that Odebrecht recently acknowledged distributing in Peru may have been used to win the pipeline contract in 2014, which would trigger "termination of the contract" if true.
