Brazil’s airports — in private hands

This article was published in the December 2011 issue of Brazil’s Speak Up magazine (www.speakup.com.br). View the pdf below:

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Macondo aftershocks: P&A contractors face increased liability in 2012

(Read this article at www.decomworld.com)

By Bob Moser, Americas correspondent
Dec. 14, 2011

Relationships between contractors and operators in the Gulf of Mexico may undergo fundamental changes in 2012, and could even make some think twice about work in the region, now that US regulators will hold contractors liable for accidents in a way not accounted for in common contracts known as Master Service Agreements (MSAs).

Twenty Incidents of Noncompliance (INC) notices have been issued since October to the “Macondo trio” of contractors involved with the 2010 well blowout. The Macondo response was the first time the Department of Interior had issued INCs directly to a contractor that wasn’t the well’s operator.

The move was long overdue, officials now say. The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) will regulate contractors along with operators from now on, said Michael R. Bromwich, former BSEE director who was replaced by James Watson on Dec. 1.

Contractors held accountable

“I believe in a system of legal and regulatory accountability, and the issuance of those INCs (to BP, TransOcean and Haliburton) reflects my view that such accountability is not limited to operators,” Bromwich told contractors during a speech to the International Association of Drilling Contractors in November.

“I know it is a new view for this industry, but I am convinced it is the right view”, he said.

Challenges ahead for Brazilian, South American ports in 2012

This series of articles on growth challenges for the ports in Brazil and the east coast of South America appeared in the November 2011 issue of Port Strategy magazine (www.portstrategy.com). View the pdf below:

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More cachet for cachaça

This article was published in the November 2011 issue of British magazine The Drinks Business (www.thedrinksbusiness.com). View the pdf below:

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CSP faces choppy waters in private lending sea

(Read this story at csptoday.com)

Government aid will end soon, and CSP will have to prove its technology and profitability to risk-averse banks and private financiers.

By Bob Moser, Americas correspondent
Nov. 18, 2011

With key government aid programs likely to expire at year’s end, concentrated solar power (CSP) developers will have to turn to a private investment market that may be too risk-averse to back the relatively unproven technology over renewables like PV and windpower, which are also aggressively competing for lender attention.

Of 103 CSP plant locations on CSP Today’s 2011 US CSP projects map, 17 are currently operational, eight are under construction, and around 78 in various stages of planning. But across the industry, a recent rash of bankruptcies and major shifts in tech-commitment may be overshadowing the positive groundwork many firms are laying.

Policing favelas in Rio de Janeiro

This article appeared in the October 2011 issue of Brazil’s Speak Up magazine (www.speakup.com.br). View the pdf below:

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