Ken Silverstein, a prominent investigative reporter in the US, has sharpened his skills and remarkable memory on the offshore anonymous corporation scene, particularly focusing on the law firm Mossack Fonseca & Co. from Panama. This…
Here’s an oil-exporting country that is leveraging the current low oil prices to eliminate subsidies. While this may prove challenging when prices increase again, they are at least making an effort. The smoothness of this…
Page 24 of OECD foreign bribery report The OECD has released a new report on corruption. This document serves as a useful guide for those looking to uncover scandal stories. According to the OECD, state-owned…
This week, I stumbled upon a curious securities filing from US Oil Sands Inc. dating back to 2012. It contains an intriguing detail: There’s nothing strange about investment companies buying shares in an oil firm.…
Reuters reported yesterday: Venezuela’s state-owned oil company PDVSA is leveraging the sale of its Citgo Petroleum Corp refining assets to obstruct ConocoPhillips from obtaining a pending arbitration award, as stated by the U.S. oil firm…
Taken without permission from Photobucket. Click for original. In July, Venezuelan General Hugo “Pollo” Carvajal arrived in Aruba by plane to assume his new role as a diplomat in the Caribbean island nation. Instead of…
To be completely honest, friends, I didn’t see this coming—probably a result of shedding the paranoia that nearly all Venezuelans wear like a second skin. I thought I was safe in central London. That was…
In Chile, authorities have detained Cristian Labbé, former mayor of Providencia, on accusations of conspiring to kidnap and murder individuals during General Augusto Pinochet’s military dictatorship. Labbé, who served as Pinochet’s bodyguard, was allegedly involved…
In a decision that surprised few, a tribunal at the World Court’s International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes ruled that Venezuela is responsible for expropriating ExxonMobil’s Cerro Negro heavy oil project, along with…
You might consider attending Harvard to learn from Francisco Monaldi. You could hire Daniel Kerner from Eurasia Group for a hefty fee. Or you might spend months waiting for a meeting with Ali Moshiri from…
ALFA, a major Mexican conglomerate, announced in May that it had acquired 31,437,700 shares of Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. (PRE.to), representing 10% of the company. This purchase was made at $18.43 per share, which was…
As of December 31, 2013, PDVSA, Venezuela’s national oil company, was dealing with $2.12 billion in “other legal claims,” in addition to the ongoing arbitration cases by Gulmar/Kaplan, ConocoPhillips Petrozuata, and Mobil Cerro Negro. This…
Do readers remember Adam Kaufmann? The former prosecutor from the New York District Attorney’s Office and lawyer for Derwick Associates, who officially stated in the Wall Street Journal, “We are a transparent company and have…
I attended the 1992 Earth Summit. There I was, among a sea of tents, surrounded by a swarm of NGO thinkers, wheeling my bicycle around, sporting my purple dance tights which clearly set me apart…
Check out this excellent summary of the climate change discussion happening in the US Congress. As mentioned, the significant climate marches on Sunday were only necessary due to widespread ignorance. I recently found an old…