Brazil to Join the Battle for Africa’s Energy Riches
November 17th, 2011
Via OilPrice.com, an interesting report on Brazil’s increased interest in Africa’s energy resources: In October Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff made a state visit to Africa, consisting of South Africa, Mozambique and Angola. Quick – what was President Roussef’s insider edge in Mozambique and Angola? Two things. First, Brazil, along with Angola and Mozambique, were originally […]
Read more »The Geopolitics of Oil Refining: China’s Entry into a Venezuelan-Brazilian Oil Deal
October 21st, 2011
Courtesy of STRATFOR (subscription required), a report on China’s support of a faltering deal between Venezuelan state-run oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) and Brazilian energy company Petroleos Brasileiros (Petrobras) over the Abreu e Lima refinery possibly as a way of tying Brazil to Venezuela, hobbling Brasilia’s ability to compete elsewhere. As the article notes: […]
Read more »Brazil, the Un-China
August 23rd, 2011
Via Time, an interesting comparison of Brazil and China: When Brazilians contemplate the beauty of their country or the ability of their soccer team, they like to joke, “God is Brazilian.” It seems foreign investors have taken the joke seriously. No emerging nation has attracted portfolio flows the way Brazil has in recent years. Charts […]
Read more »Mexico, the Un-Brazil
August 23rd, 2011
Via The Foreign Policy Association, an interesting comparison of Mexico and Brazil: Mexico’s technocrats have been seething at comparisons with Brazil for years. Who could blame them? From 2004-2009 Brazil’s growth rate doubled that of Mexico’s, just one of many indicators (foreign direct investment, exports, poverty reduction) that spelled Mexico’s—long self-annointed as Latin America’s vocero—comeuppance. […]
Read more »Brazil’s Middle Class: Poorer Than You Think
August 18th, 2011
Via The Financial Times, an interesting report on the realities and misunderstandings about Brazil’s middle class. As the article notes: “Talk to an economist about Brazil and sooner or later the same old cliché will pop up: ‘the rise of the middle classes’. This stock phrase has become the go-to explanation for pretty much everything […]
Read more »The Geopolitics of Brazil: An Emergent Power’s Struggle with Geography
July 14th, 2011
Via Stratfor (subscription required), a very interesting analysis of Brazil’s challenges: “…South America is a geographically challenging land mass. The bulk of its territory is located in the equatorial zone, making nearly all of the northern two-thirds of its territory tropical. Jungle territory is the most difficult sort of biome to adapt for human economic […]
Read more »Focusing primarily on The New Seven Sisters - the largely state owned petroleum companies from the emerging world that have become key players in the oil & gas industry as identified by Carola Hoyos, Chief Energy Correspondent for The Financial Times - but spanning other nascent opportunities around the globe that may hold potential in the years ahead, Wildcats & Black Sheep is a place for the adventurous to contemplate & evaluate the emerging markets of tomorrow.