Recently in Latin America Category

Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 210 was a record of sorts for several reasons. Not only did it rake in the lowest dollar-total of apparent high bids ($115.5 million) on the fewest blocks (162) in a decade, but it was the first sale in at least 13 years where not a single bid was received for tracts in the 200 to 400 meter water depth range.

That water depth, which has no formal name but may be characterized as deep shallow waters, has not been heavily bid in recent years. But it has yielded some notable finds. Shell's Bullwinkle platform, which started up in 1989 at a cost of half a billion dollars, was just over 400 meters deep. 

If you shout it from the hilltops, it must be so, no?

Despite Petrobras's facing down what some call its worst-ever crisis of alleged fraud and corruption, and simmering charges by Belgium-based trader Astra Oil that the Brazilian giant stiffed it over payment for a Texas refinery, Petrobras is taking solace as "the world's fourth most reputable company."