Page 10 - LatAmOil Week 06 2020

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The company also stated in a letter to prosecu- tors that the loss of the GSP contract represented a “very big blow” to its finances. Odebrecht’s best option is to “try to recoup” the money already spent, given its current financial situation, it said.
In 2016, Odebrecht sold its 55% stake in the GSP pipeline. It did so under pressure from potential investors after it was accused of hav- ing ties to the “Operation Car Wash” investiga- tion, which has gone down in history as Brazil’s worst-ever corruption scandal. The investiga- tion revealed a ring of graft and bribery between state companies and contractors, including Odebrecht and others.
Since then, Odebrecht has admitted to hav- ing used bribery schemes in a total of 12 coun- tries. It has signed plea deals in nearly half a dozen countries.
An Odebrecht-led group won a 34-year con- cession to develop the 1,000-km GSP pipeline in July 2014. Its partners in the project were Spain’s Enagas and the Peruvian construction firm Graña y Montero.
Work on the 1,000-km pipeline has been sus- pended since 2016. If the link is ever finished, it will transport gas from the central Amazonian region to the industrial south of Peru.
GSP is designed to carry initial volumes of 500mn cubic feet (14.2mn cubic metres) per day. Eventually, though, its throughput capacity
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may be expanded to 800 mmcf (22.7 mcm) per day.
The government is due to hold an auction to find new concessionaires for the project later this year, according to local reports. ™
GSP would be more than 1,000 km long (Image: Proinvesrion.)
Former Petrobras trader concludes plea bargain deal with prosecutors
A former oil trader at the Brazilian state-run energy major Petrobras has reportedly signed a plea bargain agreement with Brazilian prosecu- tors who are investigating bribery allegations at the firm.
The former trader, Rodrigo Garcia Berkow- itz, agreed to the deal in principle in December. The plea bargain was then approved by a judge late last month, Reuters reported, citing defence lawyers and prosecutors.
Berkowitz worked as a trader at Petrobras’ office in Houston until late 2018, when he was accused of accepting bribes. He is the first for- mer Petrobras employee to sign a plea bargain agreement during the investigation so far.
Brazilian prosecutors allege that between around 2011 and 2014, a number of trading firms – including major commodities trading firms such as Vitol, Glencore and Trafigura – channelled tens of millions of US dollars in bribes to Petrobras employees. In return for these funds, they say, the firms agreed to buy fuel
from Petrobras at discounted prices or to sell to fuel to the Brazilian company at a premium.
Trafigura, Vitol and Glencore have all declared that they are co-operating with the authorities over the bribery and corruption
probe. 
Petrobras stands accused of accepting bribes from trading firms (Photo: Poder 360.)
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w w w. N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 06 13•February•2020