President Donald Trump, looking to shore up support in the U.S. farm belt during a tight race for reelection, is taking steps to help producers of corn-based ethanol, using a list of policy goals that a group of Midwest senators discussed with him a year ago. They included ratcheting down the EPA’s biofuel waiver program exempting refineries from adding ethanol to their gasoline; setting higher biofuel blending volume requirements for 2020; expanding the market for higher ethanol blends of gasoline called E15; exploring a national biofuels infrastructure program; and addressing ethanol and biodiesel trade issues, particularly with Brazil, according to the memo — the details of which have not previously been published.

Sep 25, 2020 - Jamaica Observer

This year was supposed to bring great things for Guyana. ExxonMobil discovered massive oil deposits off the South American country's Caribbean coast in 2015, and Guyana sold its first cargo of crude oil this February. As production ramps up, its first stage offshore wells were projected to produce 750,000 b/d by 2025, tripling the size of Guyana's economy, from US$ 3.4 billion to US$ 13 billion. But Guyana's dreams of fabulous wealth this year have been dashed by COVID-19, which has delayed production and slashed oil demand. Compounding its coronavirus troubles, Guyana shows warning signs of the so-called “resource curse,” in which a country's new oil wealth crowds out other productive economic sectors, breeds corruption and triggers political conflict.

Sep 25, 2020 - Shipping Watch and Reuters

Trøim's latest IPO hits problems as CEO is accused of corruption.The CEO of Hygo Energy Transition, part of Tor Olav Trøim's Golar LNG, finds itself tangled in a new corruption case in Brazil. Hygo is headed for an IPO in New York, but these plans are now on hold, report media. Debut trading in Hygo Energy Transition Ltd was suspended on Thursday hours after the liquefied natural gas transport and infrastructure operator’s chief executive was named in a corruption investigation in Brazil. Hygo is headed by Eduardo Antonello, a former executive of offshore oil rig company Seadrill Ltd who Brazilian federal prosecutors accused of bribery in court filings outlining a new phase of the massive Car Wash graft probe.

Sep 25, 2020 - The Star

Sapura Energy Bhd has denied allegations of any involvement in bribery with regard to Brazilian state-owned oil company Petrobras’ contracts, as the Malaysian company faces another corruption probe in Brazil, its second one in that country. The contracts involve Sapura Energy and Seadrill. “Sapura Energy and its group of companies strongly refute any involvement in any form of bribery or corruption in its business dealings in Brazil and anywhere else in the world, ” the company said in a statement. Sapura Energy also noted that it had in the past cooperated and would continue to cooperate with any investigation or regulatory authority in relation to bribery and corruption allegations.