Petrobras encounters heavy weather

摘要

The Brazilian maritime and offshore industry currently finds itself in difficult straits as a direct result of the crisis engulfing Brazil's national oil company Petrobras - with the downward spiral in oil prices, supply bottlenecks and financial losses caused by Brazil's stringent 'local content' policy further compounding matters. The Petrobras scandal has erupted after an investigation spearheaded by the Brazilian Federal Police (PF) and the Public Ministry (Attorney General's office) began in March 2014, targeting alleged corrupt practices by Petrobras directors, directors of other large service providers and politicians. The PF operation was code-named "Lava Jato" (Car Wash), due to claims that a chain of laundromats, car washes and gas stations was used to launder the dirty money from bribery and embezzlement schemes.