Brazil antitrust body oks Petz, Cobasi merger, says local media
The approval could mark Cade's final green light for the merger, unless an appeal is filed within 15 days. If this happens, the case could be decided by an internal Cade panel.
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Daily Mail
28 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
BP strikes black gold in largest oil find for 25 years as it pivots back towards fossil fuels
BP has revealed its biggest oil and gas field discovery in 25 years in a boost for the energy giant as it pivots back towards fossil fuels. It came as the FTSE 100 firm was due to unveil an update on cost-cutting plans alongside its second-quarter results this morning. BP, which last month hired the former boss of tarmac maker CRH to replace chairman Helge Lund, is under intense pressure from investors such as US activist Elliott Advisors to boost its value. Chief executive Murray Auchincloss is attempting to reverse a pivot to green energy, undertaken by his predecessor Bernard Looney, and refocus on oil and gas to close the gap with Shell and US peers Exxon Mobil and Chevron. The discovery of the oil and gas field off Brazil comes as a boost to Auchincloss's turnaround plan. The Bumerangue field is in the Santos Basin, off the coast of Brazil and is larger than the metropolitan borough of Birmingham. It is BP's biggest find since the 1999 discovery of a gas field in the Caspian Sea, and its tenth this year. Shares rose 1.8 per cent, or 7.35p, to 406.05p. Gordon Birrell, BP's executive vice-president for production and operations, said: 'We are excited to announce this significant discovery. 'This is another success in what has been an exceptional year so far for our exploration team. 'Brazil is an important country for BP.' But the company warned that analysis suggested high levels of carbon dioxide in the well, which could make extracting oil more difficult. 'If BP wanted a piece of news to convince the markets of its renewed focus on hydrocarbons ahead of its second-quarter numbers later this week then its biggest oil discovery in a quarter of a century provides it,' Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell said. He added: 'The full significance of the find will take time to establish. 'With a new chair in place, BP will want to use its latest numbers to convince the market it has truly revamped its strategy and moved away from the green push which proved unpopular with a significant portion of its shareholder base.' As part of Auchincloss's strategy to close the valuation gap between BP and rivals, he plans to increase oil and gas investment to £8billion a year, and slash spending on renewables by nearly £4billion to £1.5billion.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Brazil interest rate overly restrictive, room for earlier cuts, minister says
BRASILIA, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Brazil's benchmark interest rate of 15% is overly restrictive and there is room to reconsider the timing of monetary easing, Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said on Monday. "The current level is more restrictive than necessary," Haddad told BandNews TV. "There is room today to rethink the trajectory of the rate-cutting cycle." Policymakers paused their tightening cycle last week, keeping rates at their highest level in nearly two decades and signaling they will remain steady for a "very prolonged" period as the central bank seeks to bring inflation back to target. Private economists surveyed weekly by Brazil's central bank expect a first interest rate cut in March, according to the latest poll released on Monday. Haddad said annual inflation "has everything in place" to fall below 5% by December. The central bank forecasts inflation at 4.9% this year, above the official target of 3% with a tolerance band of 1.5 percentage points in either direction. Haddad also emphasized that Brazil's contingency plan for steeper U.S. tariffs, which has yet to be decided by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, will have only a small impact on the country's primary budget. "At this moment, we are not considering any contingency measures that would breach the country's fiscal framework," Haddad said. Brazil will have no difficulty redirecting beef and coffee exports to other markets after the U.S. imposed 50% tariffs on those products, said the minister. But he noted that the broader impact of the levies on other sectors is a concern for the government, particularly for those producing customized goods for the U.S. market. Haddad said government purchases could help support some affected sectors, such as fruits, but added that this would not apply across the board. He also pointed to subsidized credit lines as another potential form of support.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
BP hails Brazil block as its largest global oil and gas find in 25 years
Aug 4 (Reuters) - BP (BP.L), opens new tab has made its largest global oil and gas discovery in 25 years in Brazil's Santos basin, it said on Monday, in what may be a major boost for the British company's strategic shift away from renewable energy to refocus on fossil fuels. BP is seeking to bolster oil and gas in its portfolio to regain investor confidence and revive underperforming shares. It said it planned to create a major new output hub at the Bumerangue discovery in Brazil, which a BP spokesperson said was probably the company's biggest since Shah Deniz in 1999, a gas and condensate field in the Azeri part of the Caspian Sea. Shah Deniz, with around 1 trillion cubic metres of gas and 2 billion barrels of condensate initially in place, produced 28 billion standard cubic metres of gas last year, according to BP. The company gave no reserve estimate for the Brazilian block. "Brazil is an important country for BP, and our ambition is to explore the potential of establishing a material and advantaged production hub in the country," said Gordon Birrell, BP's production and operations chief. BP shares gained 1.3% by 1107 GMT, outperforming a broader index of European energy companies (.SXEP), opens new tab which was up 0.1%. "This find may well see BP's upstream portfolio longevity extending well into the 2030s/40s, and it is this that has been the biggest issue and concern," Bernstein analyst Irene Himona said in a note. "Although we cannot extrapolate as it is too early, and each well and each reservoir is different, we believe the data ... provides support that the potential scale for this 100% BP discovery could be a game changer." The Bumerange block is "promising and strategically located" in Santos basin, wrote Jean Paul Prates, former CEO of state-run oil firm Petrobras on social media, while warning that fields with high carbon dioxide (CO2) content in its associated gas can be "uneconomic." Associated gas is a byproduct of oil production, found mixed with oil in reservoirs or as a cap above the oil. "BP has yet to disclose the CO2 level in Bumerangue," wrote Prates, adding this will "ultimately determine Bumerangue's viability." BP said in its Monday announcement that results from the rig-site analysis indicate elevated levels of CO2. It did not immediately reply to the questions about economic viability of the field raised by Prates. BP, which forecast its oil and gas production at 2.3 million to 2.5 million barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2030, said this was its tenth discovery this year, following findings in Trinidad, Egypt, Brazil and others. The company produced 2.4 million barrels of oil equivalent in 2024 and expects lower production this year. BP had secured the Bumerangue block in the Santos basin far off the Brazilian coast in a "pre-salt" formation beneath the ocean floor in December 2022 with what it said were "very good commercial terms." Fellow London-listed rival Shell (SHEL.L), opens new tab this year made a final investment decision for another project in the Santos Basin. BP is set to report its second-quarter results on Tuesday.
