Corruption Charges Ends Petrobras Contract with Ensco
Rig contractor Ensco Plc said Petrobras has declared void a contract for a drillship leased to the Brazilian oil producer. Petroleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras, chartered the DS-5 in 2008, when it was owned by Pride International, a company bought by Ensco in 2011. Petrobras said in a notice on Monday that Pride had knowledge that the rig's shipbuilder made "improper payments" to a marketing consultant who then shared the money with former employees of Petrobras. Ensco has denied allegations of corruption in Brazil.
Samson Bankruptcy Spotlights Offshore Rig Situation
The most significant bankruptcy of the current oil downturn has shone a spotlight on what is perhaps the most oversupplied corner of the energy world: the market for offshore rig services. Samson Resources Corp, an independent oil producer bought just four years ago for $7.2 billion, said in its late Wednesday filing for creditor protection that a 60 percent crude price slide had upended its business. In the offshore space, restructurings…
Doris Joins LNG Ltd
Liquefied Natural Gas Limited has appointed Ms Kinga Doris as General Counsel and Joint Company Secretary. Ms Doris will take up her appointment in early September 2015, based in Houston, Texas, USA. Ms Doris will be responsible for all statutory, securities, regulatory and other legal activities of the LNGL group as well as management of outside legal counsel across all operations and global project activities. In this capacity, she will be part of LNGL’s senior leadership team reporting to Maurice Brand, LNGL’s Managing Director and CEO.
Brazil Prosecutors: Charges Pending over Ensco Drillship Lease
Brazilian prosecutors plan to file criminal charges stemming from the lease of an Ensco Plc offshore oil-drilling ship to Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras "in due course," they said. The plan to prosecute over the Ensco-Petrobras charter was mentioned in a Thursday statement presenting corruption charges stemming from the 2009 lease of another drillship, Vantage Drilling's Titanium Explorer Rig. In the Vantage case, prosecutors formally charged six people, including Petrobras' former international-unit chief Jorge Zelada.
Former Petrobras Executive Arrested (Update)
Brazilian police arrested Jorge Zelada, former director of Petrobras' international division, as part of an ongoing investigation into bribery and corruption at the state-run oil producer, prosecutors said on Thursday, July 2nd. Zelada is suspected of money-laundering, appropriating public funds, corruption, tax evasion and contract fraud. He was taken into custody early Thursday as part of the graft probe that has already ensnared dozens of Brazil's top executives.
