Representatives of the oil sector see continuity in the management of Petrobras

It took exactly twenty minutes of speech by the new Petrobras president, José Mauro Coelho. The objective was to try to send messages to calm the market. For interlocutors in the sector, the commitment to the company’s strategic plan, which was projected from 2022 to 2026, is a sign that the management of the company’s new executive should not have a ‘hobby horse’.

José Mauro, in his inaugural speech this Thursday (14), stressed the importance of maintaining market prices. For the sources heard by CNN, the speech was a sign of continuity of the current policy of Import Parity Prices (PPI).

“Two words appear in a lot of discourse and are fundamental: efficiency and competitiveness. We also understand that the practice of market prices is necessary to attract investment, attract new economic agents, expand infrastructure and guarantee supply”, said the new president at his inauguration ceremony.

THE CNN spoke with representatives of distributors, importers, workers and shareholders. All were unanimous in saying that they do not expect, based on the words, posture and experience of the new president, a significant change in what the state-owned company has done in recent years. Fired by Jair Bolsonaro, former presidents Roberto Castello Branco and Joaquim Silva and Luna had continuity managements, along the lines of what is expected for the period in which Coelho will run the company.

President of the Brazilian Association of Fuel Importers, Abicom, Sérgio Araújo said he liked the executive’s speech. “It is essential for a company the size of Petrobras to have its north well defined and not keep changing its guidelines too often, so I found José Mauro’s inaugural speech very positive and I believe that the entire market has also seen it in a very positive way. positive,” he said.

“His speech was very positive, he reiterated that he must maintain the company’s strategic plan. Petrobras, today, the company’s focus, is to seek to maintain exploration in deep waters, in which it is a world reference. Some of the products that are not her specialty came out. This will be maintained, which is very positive”, evaluated engineer Luiz Adriano Martinez, Portfolio Manager of investment fund manager Kilima Asset.

Holder of one of the eleven seats, alongside Coelho on the Petrobras Board of Directors, Rosangela Buzanelli was not surprised by the speech. A workers’ representative on the collegiate, she told CNN that she heard exactly what she had expected. “We had no expectation that any significant change would occur, we were not disappointed in that expectation, unfortunately. This is the expectation that I would like to see frustrated but it was not”, she said.

In the counselor’s analysis, Petrobras’ guidelines in Coelho’s management should remain the same as the current plan. “The company’s strategic vision hasn’t changed, the pricing policy that is actually defined by the federal government hasn’t changed, won’t change, shouldn’t change and the entire company management process won’t change because the government hasn’t changed. It’s no use changing the president of Petrobras if the directive given by the federal government remains the same, so there is no expectation of changes either from workers or from the market itself, everything will continue as it is”, she said.

Before becoming president of the largest state-owned company in the country, José Mauro Coelho was a career employee at the Brazilian Energy Research Company, EPE and Secretary of Oil and Gas at the Ministry of Mines and Energy. It was 14 years in public service posts. Plan C of the federal government, he was invited to take office after economist Adriano Pires withdrew and the former president of the ANP, Décio Oddone, refused.

Strategic plan

In his speech, José Mauro Coelho recalled that Petrobras produces 2.1 million barrels of oil per day and said that he expects to increase the state’s production by 500,000 barrels per day in the next 5 years. He also pointed out that in 2021 alone, R$203 billion were collected in taxes and government participation.

“We will work with adherence to our strategic plan, the 2022-2026 Plan. In this sense, we will continue to maximize the value of our portfolio with a focus on deep and ultra-deep water assets”, said the new president. A legacy of the predecessor, General Joaquim Silva e Luna, the plan approved on November 24th foresees investments of US$ 68 billion.

Of this total, US$ 57 billion will go to 15 new platforms, US$ 6.1 billion for improvements in refineries, US$ 2.8 billion will go to reduction and mitigation of gas emissions and US$ 1 billion foreseen especially for the conclusion of the Itaboraí Gas Treatment Unit (GTU).

In the opinion of Luiz Adriano Martinez, this money will only be directed to investments thanks to the policy of parity of prices in the international scenario, which made the state company profit. “It is essential that this is maintained, because this is what will make the resources available for the company to continue investing in its own business. And to prevent production from falling in a resource not too far away due to lack of investment. This helps the country too, Petrobras collects a lot of cash for the Union for taxes”, he said.

“Not following this price policy with international adjustment, we will certainly have difficulties in continuing to be self-sufficient in the medium term. You will not have the resources to invest and this will certainly lead to a drop in production”, he added.

José Mauro also said that he wants to improve the company’s external communication. The topic was a thorn in the side of Silva e Luna, who insisted on strategies to try to remove the villain from Petrobras’ high fuel prices. “We will seek greater interaction with society. We have to understand the importance that this company has for Brazilians. And we often fail to have communication that reaches the Brazilian people in a palatable way,” said Coelho.