The changes at the head of the largest company in the largest economy in Latin America have happened at enormous speed in recent years. The Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, dismissed this Tuesday night the head of the oil company, Jean Paul Prates, whom he himself appointed at the beginning of his mandate 17 months ago. The premature departure of Prates, with extensive experience in the sector, in the area of renewables and former senator of the Workers’ Party (PT), has been confirmed by the company in a note in which the dismissed man announces that he is convening the Council of Administration to analyze “the early end” of his mandate. A civil engineer who worked at the company, Magda Chabriard, is emerging as the oil company’s next president, according to the Brazilian press.
Chabriard, 67, worked for 22 years at Petrobras and was general director of the National Petroleum Agency during the Presidency of Dilma Rousseff, who also belonged to the management of the oil company before reaching the top of political power.
The urgent analyzes in the Brazilian press suggest that Chabriard’s appointment represents a triumph for those in favor of the State, the company’s main shareholder, maintaining an interventionist attitude compared to those who defend that the laws of the market prevail. The outgoing Prates came to be an intermediate between the more technocratic presidents of the Bolsonaro times and the more political ones of Lula’s first phase in power.
President Lula’s discontent with the top boss of Petrobras was evident months ago. He came to the fore in March when Petrobras announced profits of almost 23 billion euros, the second best in its history, but that it would not distribute extraordinary dividends, only the mandatory ones, against the opinion of its highest representative. The stock plummeted. In 24 hours, the largest Brazilian company had lost 11.5 billion euros on the stock market. Lula believes that these fabulous benefits should go more to “the Brazilian people” and not be pocketed by the company’s shareholders.
The last few years have been really turbulent for Petrobras. The previous president, Jair Bolsonaro, fired three top executives of the oil company from office during his term. Lula, upon returning to power in 2023, chose the now fired Prates as the man who should pilot the energy transition in the country’s main company. Petrobras has just turned 70 years old, it has a daily production of 3.1 million barrels, record profits, 56 platforms, reserves of 10 billion barrels and 45,000 employees. He arrived at the anniversary with plans to explore the equatorial strip in front of the Amazon and recovering from the trauma (and hole) caused by the Lava Jato corruption mega-scandal.
Follow all the information from El PAÍS América in Facebook and xor in our weekly newsletter.
#Lula #dismisses #president #oil #company #Petrobras #months #disagreements