US energy giant Chevron said Tuesday it had successfully sealed a ruptured offshore well which for the past week has seeped oil into waters off Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro state.

The company “can currently advise that well control operations have been successful and that any fluid flow from the well appears to have ceased,” a Chevron statement said.

Brazil posted a trade surplus of $2.355 billion in October, beating forecasts for a third straight month after exports outpaced imports in the final days of the month following a recovery in global commodities prices.

The surplus reported by the trade ministry was more than double the median forecast of $1 billion according to 13 analysts polled by Reuters. It was highest trade surplus for the month of October since 2007.

Brazil’s state-run power utility Eletrobras could pare back ambitious investments in Latin America’s largest economy as the renewal of electric concessions threatens to pinch cash flow. More >

Brazilian billionaire Eike Batista poured another 544 million reais ($309 million) into his oil and gas start-up OGX, the company said on Monday, consolidating his controlling stake after its shares lost nearly half their value this year.

OGX said in a security filing that Batista’s Centennial Asset Mining Fund bought up structured notes equivalent to 1.45 percent of the company’s capital.

Brazil’s industrial production fell in August after expanding less in July than originally reported, signaling an economic slowdown in Latin America’s largest economy.

Industrial production in Brazil fell 0.2 percent in August from a month earlier, More >

Brazil has set a high bar for providing support to the euro zone under a potential plan that would involve other large developing nations, demanding that the common currency bloc first find concrete solutions for its sovereign debt crisis.

“Europe has to save itself because it has the tools to resolve the sovereign debt problem of Greece and other countries and the problem of bank weakness,” Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega said Tuesday.

Brazil’s government pledged to increase its primary surplus this year by R$10bn ($6.3bn) in an effort to shore up the country’s finances ahead of a possible deterioration in global markets.

Guido Mantega, Brazil’s finance minister, said on Monday that the government would limit any further spending this year so it could achieve a central government budget surplus before interest payments of R$91bn, up from the previous target of R$81bn.

Brazil is unlikely to hold a new oil bidding round until early 2012, Mines and Energy Minister Edison Lobao said on Tuesday.

Brazil had hoped to hold its 11th oil round later this year but President Dilma Rousseff is still reviewing the exploration and production blocks that are expected to be put up for auction.

Lobao said that the auction could occur in January or February of next year but that none of the highly sought after concession blocks in the subsalt area off Brazil’s southeastern coast will be included in the new auction.

Brazil’s friendly game against Egypt has been cancelled for security reasons, the Brazilian Football Confederation said on Tuesday.

The Egyptian Football Association (EFA) said last week the Pharaohs would not be able to play the match, which was scheduled for 6 September, due to their commitments in the African Cup of Nations qualifiers.