Brazilian police on Tuesday expanded a long-running corruption investigation known as Car Wash to international contracts mostly for diesel and jet fuel at state-controlled oil company Petrobras, prosecutors said in a statement. Search warrants were issued against six individuals and two businesses related to one of them as part of a new phase of a probe into alleged kickbacks for deals with Petrobras, prosecutors said. Petrobras said it learned of the warrants after the police operation was made public on Tuesday. Petrobras said in an email that it is a victim of corrupt employees and that it has collaborated with authorities providing information that led to Tuesday's operation.

Oct 21, 2020 - Brownfield

The U.S. and Brazil have announced an updated trade agreement with a new Protocol to improve trade rules and transparency. Agricultural trade rules have been updated for greater transparency during port of entry and inspections, and quota requirements. The updated Protocol is also expected to spur further negotiations on ethanol and sugar trade. Brazil previously extended its tariff-rate quota for duty-free imports of U.S. ethanol after it expired at the end of August as a sign of goodwill ahead of the November elections.

Oct 21, 2020 - BNAmericas

Luis Arce’s first-round win in Bolivia’s presidential election has raised questions as to what degree will his administration mirror that of Evo Morales, under whom Arce was economy minister. Of particular importance is the future of the country’s energy sector, which Morales nationalized and is touted in the government plan of Arce, who represents the former head of state’s left-wing Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) political party. “The nationalization of hydrocarbons is the most important milestone for the Bolivian economy, since it marked the beginning of the observed structural change, allowing oil income to remain in the country,” reads the plan.

Oct 21, 2020 - Ethanol Producer Magazine

Corn ethanol production in Brazil is expected to reach 2.5 billion liters (660.43 million gallons) during the 2020-’21 marketing year, according to a report filed with the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service’s Global Agricultural Information Network on Oct. 8. According to the report, plentiful and cheap corn supplies in the west-central region of Brazil have attracted investment in the corn ethanol sector over the past few years. There are currently 16 corn ethanol plants in the country. At least four of those facilities are corn-only plants. The remaining facilities are flex plants that can produce ethanol from both corn and sugarcane. The report cites industry sources as indicating at least seven more corn ethanol plants are in the planning, development or construction phase.