Around the world, governments continue to loosen their hold on oil and gas reserves. Just look at a slew of developments this week. Such as Russia finalizing a privatization plan for state producer Bashneft — which will see fellow Russian E&P Rosneft buy the government’s 50.8% stake for $5.3 billion. That plan is a little murky in terms of private-sector involvement. Given that Rosneft itself is majority owned by the Russian government. But another major spot in the oil and gas world is clearly opening for unprecedented private involvement. Offshore Brazil. Late last week, Brazil’s House of Representatives took a major step toward privatizing oil and gas development. By voting 292-to-101 to approve the removal of requirements that state firm Petrobras must participate in high-impact pre-salt oil projects. Up until now, Petrobras by law was required to be a participating partner in all pre-salt blocks. Guaranteeing that the Brazilian […]