Neste segundo Boletim podem ser lidas notícias publicadas pelo site da norueguesa Upstream, especializada em informações sobre o setor de petróleo e gás; da Agência Ria Novosti de Moscou com noticiário da Agência Reuters e do jornal espanhol ABC. Boa leitura.
a) UPSTREAM – The international Oil&Gas Newspaper (Oslo, Noruega) – www.upstreamonline.com
Brazil's Rousseff struggling to limit Petrobras scandal's damage (Brasileira Rousseff lutando para limitar os estragos do escândalo na Petrobrás)
SAO PAULO/BRASILIA - President Dilma Rousseff expects a bribery scandal at state-run oil company Petrobras to deteriorate in coming months, aides say, with arrests possible for some political allies and potentially serious damage to an economy that is already struggling.
1:11pm EST
Tenacious Brazilian judge oversees deepening Petrobras probe (Obstinado juiz brasileiro supervisiona o aprofundamento de provas sobre a Petrobrás)
CURITIBA, Brazil, Nov 20 - In a country where big court cases often drag on for a decade or more and abruptly fall apart on technicalities, the man leading a bribery probe at Brazil's state-run oil firm Petrobras is described by allies and even rivals as perfectly suited to the task.
20 Nov 2014
Morgan Stanley sees Petrobras scandal write-offs of up to $8.1 billion (Morgan Stanley visualiza que escândalo pode reduzir em até 8,1 bilhões de dólares os ativos da Petrobrás)
SAO PAULO - Petróleo Brasileiro SA could slash the value of its assets by as much as 21 billion reais ($8.1 billion) and cut dividends as a result of an ongoing investigation into alleged graft and money-laundering at Brazil's state-controlled oil producer, analysts at Morgan Stanley & Co said in a client note.
Petrobras graft scandal to affect bidding (Escândalo de subornos na Petrobrás pode afetar concorrências)
Brazilian oil giant Petrobras will suspend local contractors implicated in a broad corruption scandal at the state-controlled company from participating in upcoming tenders in cases where there is absolute evidence that they have committed bidding irregularities in the past.
- RIA NOVOSTI WEBSITE GROUP – Moscou, La voz de Rusia - sp.ria.ru/internatioonal/ - e Agência REUTERS – www.reuters.com/finance/
Dilma Rousseff se deja aconsejar por Lula y creará un gabinete de crisis para Petrobras
23:54 19/11/2014
Río de Janeiro (Brasil), 19 nov (Sputnik).
A su regreso de la reunión del G-20 en Australiala presidenta de Brasil, Dilma Rousseff, se reunió inmediatamente con el expresidente Lula da Silva y sus ministros más cercanos para definir su estrategia de cara al nuevo mandato y a la gestión del escándalo Petrobras.
El pasado martes, según las informaciones divulgadas este miércoles por la periodista Cristiana Lobo, Rousseff y Lula se habrían encontrado en secreto en la residencia oficial de Torto, en la cual el expresidente residió durante las reformas en el Palacio de la Alvorada.
En el encuentro estuvieron acompañados por el ministro de Casa Civil, Aloisio Mercadante, el ministro de Justicia, José Eduardo Cardozo, y el nuevo hombre de confianza de la presidenta el gobernador de Bahía, Jacques Wagner.
Con la vista puesta en los mercados, Lula habría sugerido a Rousseff la designación lo antes posible de un nuevo ministro de Hacienda y Economía, para lo cual habría señalado al expresidente del Banco Central durante su mandato, Henrique Meirelles, o ascender al actual secretario ejecutivo del ministerio de Hacienda, Nelson Barbosa.
Por otra parte, la posibilidad de sustituir a Graça Foster, actual presidenta de la petrolera Petrobras sumida en el peor escándalo de corrupción de su historia, también fue planteada en el encuentro a pesar de las negativas de la presidenta a reemplazar a una persona de su más absoluta confianza y a todas luces libre de sospechas.
Para ello se llegó incluso a proponer los nombres de los presentes Jacques Wagner y Aloisio Mercandante, aunque su nombramiento se correspondería a una decisión extrema dado su valor en el futuro nuevo mandato de la presidenta.
Por último, la presidenta observó la necesidad de convocar un gabinete de crisis para controlar la crisis de corrupción en Petrobras que comienza a salpicar a cargos del Partido de los Trabajadores (PT) y de su aliado el Partido del Movimiento Democrático de Brasil (PMDB), una medida excepcional que también fue adoptada durante el escándalo del "Mensalao" en 2005.
c) ABC – Madri, Espanha – www.abc.es
Escándalo en Brasil
18 personas han sido detenidas en Brasil implicadas en el mayor escándalo de corrupción que salpica el país desde hace meses. La malversación de más de 3.800 millones de dólares de la petrolera Petrobras, la mayor empresa del país. Los detenidos son altos ejecutivos y empresarios acusados de efectuar sobornos
d. UPSTREAM – The international Oil&Gas Newspaper (Oslo, Noruega) – www.upstreamonline.com
Petrobras crisis changes the game (Crise na Petrobrás muda o jogo)
By Gareth Chetwynd
21 November 2014 01:00 GMT
The corruption network unearthed at Petrobras is breathtaking in scale, but the revelations did not come as a complete surprise to all in the Brazilian oil sector.
Just as old gossip about the existence of a pre-salt oil province turned out to be true, the arrangement through which contractors carved up Petrobras business had long been rumoured.
The cycle of arrests, plea-bargaining and confessions is revealing an institutionalised system of corruption that is as disquieting to Brazilians as the 7-1 defeat to Germany that their football team suffered in the World Cup.
A whistle-blower at SBM Offshore started the ball rolling early this year by shedding light on internal concerns about payments made to middle-men in Brazil.
Petrobras went on the defensive, holding an unconvincing internal investigation — with zero findings — and barring SBM from tenders.
Then Paulo Roberto Costa, a former Petrobras director, turned up in a police phone tap of a black market dollar trader.
Costa boxed himself into a corner when members of his family were found attempting to destroy evidence and his subsequent plea-bargaining strategy has blown the kickback scheme wide open.
Industry figures scrambled to co-operate with police after they showed up in Costa’s plea-bargaining testimony, helping trigger more arrests and confessions.
The focus is now moving to the political sphere, where Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff wants to be seen as the leader who finally stood up to endemic corruption, but must explain how she failed to spot the graft when she was chair of the Petrobras board for seven years, before her election in 2010.
Rousseff’s predecessor and mentor, president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, survived a major scandal of his own by remaining aloof from a cash-for-votes scheme during his first mandate.
However, expectations about accountability are rising, and there is growing pressure for heads to roll.
Even Petrobras chief executive Maria das Gracas Foster — while she has not been linked to these investigations — is among those coming under pressure in the media.
Foster’s tough approach to management actually seems to be turning the company around in terms of rising production, but the scandal may undo this progress.
Scores of executives with key contractors such as Engevix, Queiroz Galvao and UTC are under arrest or facing legal action.
About $300 million of their personal assets have been frozen and Petrobras officials are promising to adjust contracts to claw back the bribery premium.
But these companies are building the hardware for the pre-salt development, and some of them have been strapped for cash since Foster clamped down on contractual addenda that offered low-bidding contractors a lifeline.
One of the companies featuring in the scandal, Iesa Oil & Gas, laid off its workers in August, jeopardising a contract to supply 24 topsides modules for six FPSOs.
A downscaling of production targets and cancellations of some of the floater and rig orders may be on the cards.
Petrobras has already delayed the release of its third-quarter earnings, cutting off access to new bond issues, and is likely to announce impairment charges.
Rousseff has said that Brazil will never be the same after what police have dubbed Operation Car Wash, promising an end to impunity.
To some extent she has put her faith in Brazil’s ability to absorb this shock, giving prosecutors free rein to act.
Rousseff and Foster probably deserve to be given a chance to show that this change is for real.