Page 18 - NorthAmOil Week 39

NorthAmOil PROJECTS & COMPANIES NorthAmOil

US prosecutors charge ex-Vitol employee in

connection with Brazil’s Car Wash probe

US-BRAZIL US prosecutors have charged a former employee the Swiss firm has anti-bribery and corruption
of Vitol, a Swiss energy trading group, with brib- policies and controls in place. She also indicated
ery as part of Brazil’s long-running Lava Jato that Vitol was aware of the US charges and was
(“Car Wash”) corruption investigation. This co-operating with authorities.
move marked the first time that an employee The news agency also noted that a company
of a leading commodity trading house has been based in the US state of Florida had also pleaded
indicted in the probe, according to a Reuters guilty to bribery as a part of the Car Wash probe.
report. The firm had been accused of making improper
Javier Aguilar, a former manager working payments to officials at Brazilian state-run oil
in Vitol’s Houston office, was charged late last company Petrobras, it said.
month with conspiracy and money laundering, Brazil’s ongoing Car Wash corruption scan-
Reuters stated. Prosecutors accused him of con- dal, the country’s largest-ever corruption inves-
spiracy and money laundering in connection tigation, entered its 74th phase earlier this month
with the payment of an $870,000 bribe to gov- with a probe into foreign-exchange transactions
ernment officials in Ecuador in order to win a carried out by Petrobras around a decade ago.
$300mn oil contract, the report added. Federal police in Brazil issued 25 search warrants
The former Vitol employee, a Mexican citi- as part of the new probe and Banco Paulista, a
zen living in the US, has denied the allegations São Paulo-based financial firm, is also being
through his attorney. investigated.
Aguilar acted as the commodity firm’s chief Petrobras is trying to pay down debt and
negotiator for the contract, a source familiar with recover from the Car Wash scandal, through a
the matter told Reuters last week. He arranged strategy based on divesting non-core assets to
contracts with intermediaries in the United focus on upstream operations in the deepwa-
States in order to win the deal, according to the ter pre-salt area. Last December, the firm said it
US Justice Department. hoped to sell off $20-30bn worth of assets in the
A spokeswoman for Vitol told Reuters that 2020-2024 period as part of this initiative.™

NEWS IN BRIEF

UPSTREAM The extension presents Bonterra and its ConocoPhillips provides
syndicate of lenders additional time to finalise
Bonterra Energy Corp. legal and banking documentation related to preliminary third-quarter
the approved Business Development Bank
announces extension of of Canada (BDC) second lien non-revolving 2020 operational and
four-year term facility for CAD45mn. The
revolving credit facility BDC term facility offers Bonterra significant financial update and
additional long-term liquidity at reasonable
to finalise BDC-approved interest rates to withstand the impacts of the announces intent to resume
COVID-19 pandemic and allow the company
CAD45mn term facility to continue pursuing development of its share repurchases of $1bn
high-quality, Cardium light oil asset base in
Bonterra Energy Corp. announces it has order to generate long-term, sustainable net during the fourth quarter of
received approval from its syndicate of lenders asset value per share growth as the economy
to extend the revolving period applicable recovers. 2020
to the company’s existing credit facility to BONTERRA ENERGY CORP., September 30,
October 30, 2020 from September 30, 2020. 2020 ConocoPhillips today provided information
The credit facility will continue to be available regarding certain preliminary third-quarter
on a revolving basis until that date. 2020 operational and financial updates. Final

P18 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 39 01•October•2020