Top Petrobras executives quit in corporate rebuke

Market: Crude oil, Oil products
24/03/21

Four senior executives of Brazil's state-controlled Petrobras have decided to step down ahead of next month's arrival of a new chief executive appointed by President Jair Bolsonaro.

Chief financial officer Andrea Almeida, logistics director Andre Chiarini, upstream director Carlos Alberto Pereira de Oliveira and production director Rudimar Lorenzatto decided not to renew their employment contracts, effectively following chief executive Roberto Castello Branco out of the company.

The mass departures are a rebuke by the company's professional managers of Bolsonaro's surprise appointment in February of Joaquim Silva e Luna as chief executive.

Currently head of the Itaipu hydroelectric complex, Silva e Luna is a former army general and defense minister with no oil industry experience.

He will come aboard just as Petrobras is advancing refinery sales, the first of which was approved earlier today. But with Brasilia scrutinizing the company's market-based fuel pricing policy amid perceptions of a managerial vacuum, the asset sales look less certain.

The four departing executives informed the company they will not seek an extension of their two-year contracts past their 20 March expiry, but Brazilian law automatically extends the term of executive directors until the next shareholder meeting, which is scheduled for 12 April, Petrobras said today.

Thin ranks

The departures mean that only a few senior executives will carry over from Castello Branco's technocratic two-year tenure, including recently appointed downstream director Rodrigo Costa Lima e Silva.

Late on 19 February, Bolsonaro shocked investors by naming Silva e Luna to replace Castello Branco, reviving a past record of political meddling into fuel pricing. The company has been pricing gasoline and diesel on a market basis since 2016, sparking a popular backlash.

The bombshell appointment caused Petrobras shares to plummet. Since then, Silva e Luna has tried to reassure investors he is not beholden to Brasilia.

Under Castello Branco, Petrobras has been downsizing to become a leaner, mostly upstream company focused mainly on pre-salt oil production. The firm is currently in the process of selling around half of its 2.2mn b/d of domestic refining capacity. Petrobras' board today approved the $1.65bn (R9.1bn) sale of the 333,000 b/d Landulpho Alves refinery (RLAM) to Abu Dhabi's state-owned investment fund Mubadala.

The management turmoil in Petrobras coincides with a sharp surge in Covid-19 infections across Brazil, where Bolsonaro regularly plays down the gravity of the pandemic. The recent resurfacing of his political foil, popular former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, adds another layer of uncertainty to Brazil's investment climate.

By Nathan Walters

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21/11/24

Cop: EU, four countries commit to 1.5°C climate plans

Baku, 21 November (Argus) — The EU, Canada, Mexico, Norway and Switzerland have committed to submit new national climate plans setting out "steep emission cuts", that are consistent with the global 1.5°C temperature increase limit sought by the Paris Agreement. The EU and four countries made the pledge at the UN Cop 29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan today, and called on other nations to follow suit — particularly major economies. Countries are due to submit new climate plans — known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs) — covering 2035 goals to the UN climate body the UNFCCC by early next year. The EU, Canada, Mexico, Norway and Switzerland have not yet submitted their plans, but they will be aligned with a 1.5°C pathway, EU climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra said today. The Paris climate agreement seeks to limit the global rise in temperature to "well below" 2°C and preferably to 1.5°C. Canada's NDC is being considered by the country's cabinet and will be submitted by the 10 February deadline, Canadian ambassador for climate change Catherine Stewart said today. Switzerland's new NDC will also be submitted by the deadline, the country's representative confirmed. Pamana's special representative for climate change Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez also joined the press conference today. Panama, which is designated as carbon negative, submitted an updated NDC in June. It is planning to submit a nature pledge, Monterrey Gomez said. "It is time to streamline processes to get to real action", he added. The UK also backed the pledge. The UK announced an ambitious emissions reduction target last week. The UAE — which hosted Cop 28 last year — released a new NDC just ahead of Cop 29, while Brazil, host of next year's Cop 30, released its new NDC on 13 November during the summit. Thailand yesterday at Cop 29 communicated a new emissions reduction target . Indonesia last week said that it intends to submit its updated NDC ahead of the February deadline, with a plan placing a ceiling on emissions and covering all greenhouse gases as well as including the oil and gas sector. Colombia also indicated that its new climate plan will seek to address fossil fuels, but it will submit its NDC by June next year . By Georgia Gratton Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Cop: EU says finance draft text not acceptable

21/11/24

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21/11/24

Cop: EU says finance draft text not acceptable

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20/11/24

Mexico to keep some energy regulator independence

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