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Brazil's New Petrobras Chief Calls to Speed Up Oil Exploration

Brazilian oil and gas company Petrobras President Magda Chambriard gestures during a press conference in Rio de Janeiro on May 27, 2024- AFP
Brazilian oil and gas company Petrobras President Magda Chambriard gestures during a press conference in Rio de Janeiro on May 27, 2024- AFP
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Brazil's New Petrobras Chief Calls to Speed Up Oil Exploration

Brazilian oil and gas company Petrobras President Magda Chambriard gestures during a press conference in Rio de Janeiro on May 27, 2024- AFP
Brazilian oil and gas company Petrobras President Magda Chambriard gestures during a press conference in Rio de Janeiro on May 27, 2024- AFP

The new boss of Brazil's Petrobras said it was crucial that the state-run company "accelerate" oil exploration, including in a controversial offshore basin near the mouth of the Amazon River.

Former regulator Magda Chambriard took over as chief executive of the oil giant on Friday, after left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva sacked her predecessor, AFP reported.

In her first press conference, the 66-year-old said exploring "new frontiers" was key to the company's survival, touching on an issue which has divided the Lula administration and infuriated environmentalists.

"This company's exploratory effort ... has to be accelerated," she said.

"The focus is ensuring that Petrobras' oil assets continue to grow. This means it is essential to continue exploring oil off the Brazilian coast. This includes the Equatorial Margin and the Amapa coast," she said.

The Equatorial Margin is a basin near the mouth of the Amazon River, that is considered Brazil's most promising frontier for oil exploration, with studies suggesting it holds massive crude deposits.

It lies near regions in Guyana, French Guiana and Suriname that have recently made major oil discoveries.

However, environmentalists warn of potentially devastating impacts on the ecologically sensitive region.

The project has triggered a battle within the Lula administration and the environmental protection agency, IBAMA, denied Petrobras an exploration license in May last year.

Environmental groups have long opposed crude oil exploration projects in the area where the Amazon meets the Atlantic Ocean, warning that it could pose risks to a freshwater barrier reef discovered there in 2016.

Chambriard said the energy ministry of the world's seventh-largest oil producing country "would love to drill" in this area.

"We need to have authorization to explore. We will have to talk to the Ministry of the Environment and show what Petrobras is offering in terms of environmental care, much more than what the law demands," said Chambriard.

She said the deepwater deposits that Brazil has been exploiting for the past 15 years would reach their peak in 2030.

"We have to be careful with reserves, and imports are out of the question," she said.

Chambriard was appointed after her predecessor Jean Paul Prates was sacked earlier this month following a spat between Petrobras and shareholders over dividend payments.

She is the sixth CEO of the company in under three years, after a turbulent period that included a major corruption scandal in the 2010s.

 

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Business

Kremlin: Saudi Arabia Named Guest of Honor at St. Petersburg Economic Forum

Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during a plenary session of last year’s St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. (Reuters)
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during a plenary session of last year’s St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. (Reuters)
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Kremlin: Saudi Arabia Named Guest of Honor at St. Petersburg Economic Forum

Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during a plenary session of last year’s St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. (Reuters)
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during a plenary session of last year’s St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. (Reuters)

The Kremlin said Saudi Arabia will be featured as the “guest of honor” at the 29th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, SPIEF, in 2026, which opens this week.

The Russian presidency said Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman will lead a high-level delegation of major national institutions and companies, headed by Saudi Aramco.

The announcement coincided with talks in Moscow between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan.

Lavrov said Saudi Arabia’s selection as the guest country for 2026 carried major historical symbolism, coinciding with the 100th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

He praised Saudi Arabia’s strong participation in the 2025 forum, also led by Prince Abdulaziz, which included productive talks with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak.

Through its national pavilion, the Kingdom will showcase its investment, export, and tourism potential, hold business talks, and present a rich cultural program.

Anton Kobyakov, an adviser to the Russian president, said the participation would inject new momentum into the strategic partnership between Moscow and Riyadh across energy, industry, transport, finance, and high technology.

Saudi Arabia now joins other Global South countries that have previously received the honorary status, including Qatar, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Bahrain.

Founded in 1997, the St. Petersburg forum is Russia’s leading annual economic conference.

It brings together heads of state, finance ministers, and chief executives from Russian and international companies to discuss challenges facing emerging markets and the global economy.

The forum draws more than 10,000 participants each year from about 100 countries. In 2025, it posted a record turnout of 24,200 participants from 144 countries and saw agreements worth 6.48 trillion rubles ($89 billion) signed.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has regularly attended the forum’s plenary sessions since 2005, except from 2008 to 2011, when Dmitry Medvedev attended.

This year’s list of official partners and sponsors includes more than 100 major companies and institutions, led by key partners Rosatom and VEB.RF, along with banking and energy players, including Sberbank, Gazprom, and Novatek.

Business

Is the $1.8 Trillion Private Credit Market Headed for a ‘Credit Winter’?

Raindrops hang on a sign for Wall Street outside the New York Stock Exchange in Manhattan in New York City, New York, US, October 26, 2020. (Reuters)
Raindrops hang on a sign for Wall Street outside the New York Stock Exchange in Manhattan in New York City, New York, US, October 26, 2020. (Reuters)
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Is the $1.8 Trillion Private Credit Market Headed for a ‘Credit Winter’?

Raindrops hang on a sign for Wall Street outside the New York Stock Exchange in Manhattan in New York City, New York, US, October 26, 2020. (Reuters)
Raindrops hang on a sign for Wall Street outside the New York Stock Exchange in Manhattan in New York City, New York, US, October 26, 2020. (Reuters)

Could private credit become the next global financial crisis? The question is gaining urgency across financial and regulatory circles after years of explosive growth in lending outside the traditional banking system created a market worth more than $1.8 trillion, much of it operating beyond close regulatory scrutiny.

The concerns sharpened after JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon warned that losses in the sector could exceed expectations once the credit cycle turns, citing deteriorating lending standards and rising leverage.

Regulators are beginning to respond. The Financial Stability Board, which includes G20 central bank governors and finance ministers, has urged national regulators to tighten oversight of private credit markets. At the same time, the European Central Bank identified private credit as one of the leading threats to financial stability alongside elevated asset valuations.

In its Financial Stability Review released in late May, the ECB highlighted two major vulnerabilities within the sector. The first was what it described as a “snowball effect,” with some funds struggling to liquidate assets while facing rising redemption requests from investors, increasing the risk of distressed sales.

The second was the rise of “double leverage,” as private credit funds increasingly borrow from traditional banks to finance their own lending activity, creating deeper links between banks and nonbank lenders.

Mohammed Farraj, senior executive for asset management at Arbah Capital, explained that the sector’s rapid expansion was rooted in structural shifts that followed the 2008 global financial crisis. As banks pulled back from lending to small and medium-sized companies under stricter Basel III capital and liquidity regulation, private credit funds moved in to fill the financing gap.

Jamie Dimon, Chairman and Chief Executive officer (CEO) of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) speaks to the Economic Club of New York in Manhattan in New York City, US, April 23, 2024. (Reuters)

“Their flexibility and ability to move quickly outside conventional banking restrictions allowed them to capture significant market share,” Farraj told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Private credit refers to direct lending to companies through nonbank financial institutions without using banks or public debt markets. Unlike traditional banks, which rely on short-term deposits and operate under strict liquidity requirements, private credit funds are financed by long-term institutional capital from pension funds, insurers, and sovereign wealth funds.

The sector encompasses a wide range of financing tools, including direct lending, mezzanine financing, distressed debt investing, startup financing, and asset-backed lending tied to real estate, equipment, or intellectual property.

Years of ultra-low interest rates after 2008 accelerated institutional demand for private credit as investors searched for higher yields. More recently, higher global interest rates have made the sector even more attractive because many private credit loans carry floating rates that rise automatically with central bank tightening.

Farraj argued that the current environment offers annual returns ranging from 10 percent to 15 percent, well above those available in traditional fixed-income markets.

The company logo and trading information for BlackRock is displayed on a screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, US, March 30, 2017. (Reuters)

However, he cautioned that higher borrowing costs are also placing growing pressure on heavily indebted companies, increasing the risk of defaults, particularly among businesses with fragile balance sheets.

Transparency remains one of the sector’s biggest weaknesses. Private credit assets are not priced daily in public markets but are instead valued periodically using internal models, potentially delaying the recognition of losses and creating a misleading impression of stability.

Concerns intensified earlier this year after a BlackRock private credit fund cut its net asset value by nearly 19 percent because of deteriorating technology-sector loans, prompting closer scrutiny from US regulators.

Despite mounting concerns, Farraj maintained that private credit differs fundamentally from the 2008 mortgage crisis because losses are concentrated among sophisticated institutional investors rather than bank depositors.

Still, he warned that hidden systemic risks could emerge through the growing ties between banks and private credit funds.

He expected the sector to surpass $3 trillion in the coming years, driven by institutional demand and the expanding use of artificial intelligence in credit analysis and risk assessment.

Business

Saudi Healthcare Firms Post $305 Million in Q1 Profit

Members of a family gather to visit a patient at a Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib hospital in Saudi Arabia (website) 
Members of a family gather to visit a patient at a Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib hospital in Saudi Arabia (website) 
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Saudi Healthcare Firms Post $305 Million in Q1 Profit

Members of a family gather to visit a patient at a Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib hospital in Saudi Arabia (website) 
Members of a family gather to visit a patient at a Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib hospital in Saudi Arabia (website) 

Saudi Arabia’s listed healthcare companies reported combined net profits of SAR1.148 billion ($305.9 million) in the first quarter of 2026, as aggressive expansion plans and higher financing costs pressured earnings despite strong demand for medical services.

The Kingdom’s 13 publicly traded healthcare firms saw profits decline 38.3 percent from SAR1.862 billion ($496.2 million) a year earlier, according to financial disclosures on the Saudi Exchange (Tadawul). Analysts described the drop as a temporary correction tied to capital expenditures rather than a sign of weakening sector fundamentals.

The sector continued to benefit from rising demand for healthcare services, growing patient volumes, higher hospital occupancy rates, geographic expansion, increased operating capacity, and the steady growth of health insurance coverage. Government-backed digital transformation and healthcare reforms under Saudi Vision 2030 also continued to support the industry.

The listed firms include Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Group, Mouwasat Medical Services, Dallah Health, Saudi Chemical Company Holding , Ayyan Investment company, Care Medical, Fakeeh Care Group, SMC Healthcare, Al Hammadi Holding, Almoosa Health, Middle East Healthcare Company (Saudi German Health), Scientific and Medical Equipment House, and Canadian Medical Center.

Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Services Group remained the sector’s dominant player, accounting for about 43 percent of total industry profits. The company posted SAR503 million in net income during the quarter, although earnings fell 9.6 percent because of higher fixed costs linked to strategic expansion projects, as well as increased depreciation and financing expenses. Revenue nevertheless rose 8.8 percent to SAR3.44 billion.

Mouwasat Medical Services ranked second, reporting profits of SAR201 million, up 2 percent year-on-year. The company attributed the performance to the resilience of its operating model, lower zakat provisions, and a 9.1 percent increase in revenue to SAR 833.8 million.

Saudi Chemical Holding Company came third, posting net profits of SAR87.2 million, up 5.9 percent from the same period last year. The gains were driven by higher product sales volumes, lower provisions for trade receivables, reduced financing expenses, and profits from the revaluation of derivative instruments used to hedge interest-rate risks.

Financial analyst Nasser Alrashid said the healthcare sector remains among the Saudi market’s most defensive and stable industries, supported by long-term drivers including population growth, expanding health insurance coverage, and Vision 2030 healthcare reforms.

For his part, market analyst Tariq Al Atiq said sector profitability is likely to improve in the second half of 2026 as companies gradually absorb expansion-related costs and new projects reach stronger occupancy levels. He added that privatization, public-private partnerships, and wider adoption of digital technology and artificial intelligence are expected to further support growth.