Petrobraz will invest in renewable energy sources
2022.12.31 01:49
Petrobraz will invest in renewable energy sources
Budrigannews.com – The fact that a former senator and energy consultant from Brazil has been chosen to lead Petrobras suggests that the new president-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva wants the state-owned company to focus on more projects using renewable energy.
Petroleo Brasileiro SA has increased its focus on deep and ultradeepwater exploration and production since 2019, while also disposing of less productive assets to reduce debt.
In any case, Jean Paul Prates, designated on Friday to be CEO, has been supporting for higher interests in renewables.
In a press conference this month, Prates stated, “Petrobras is a company for the long term and cannot just keep exploring sub-salt oil and paying dividends.”
After serving as a senator for the past four years, Prates will become the first politician in several years to hold a high-ranking position at Petrobras. However, investors’ concerns that Lula would appoint a meddlesome manager to run the oil company may be allayed by his nomination.
Prates, a prominent energy policy voice within Lula’s Workers Party, stated last month that the new administration would discuss everything with market participants, would not take an interventionist stance toward Petrobras, and had no intention of causing a “breakdown” of the company.
A current executive who worked under outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro said, on condition of anonymity, “He was the best choice considering the upcoming scenario.”
After Lula defeated Bolsonaro in an election in October, Petrobras shares fell as much as 25%. However, they have since recovered from a five-month low in the middle of December.
According to a second Petrobras source, Prates “knows about the sector” and hopes to take a “moderate stance.” He has master’s degrees in energy planning from the University of Pennsylvania and oil economics from the French Institute of Petroleum.
The transition team’s press officer, Petrobras, and Prates did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Bento Albuquerque, Bolsonaro’s former minister of mines and energy, gave Prates, who founded an energy consulting firm three decades ago, praise that was unlikely.
There is a wide range of opinion elsewhere.
Joaquim Silva e Luna, a former CEO of Petrobras who also worked for Bolsonaro, said that Prates was a strong opponent of the current fuel pricing policy, which ties local fuel prices to international prices and exchange rates.
Prates has guarded higher Petrobras interests in the refining area as a method for getting Brazil’s fuel supply. As part of a 2019 agreement to open Brazil’s refining sector to private players, Luna stated that Prates might suspend Petrobras’ refinery sales.
Luna told Reuters, “I’m not in a position to make a value judgment.” He is familiar with the industry, but his team’s success will determine everything.
Prates is viewed as a combative senator in the Senate because he sponsored bills on energy transition and sustainability at a time when Brazil’s deforestation rate was skyrocketing. He is also well-known for his ability to negotiate, which earned him the position of minority leader under Bolsonaro.
A project establishing a framework for offshore wind farms and a mechanism for stabilizing fuel prices were two of his proposals.
Right-wing Senator Soraya Thronicke, who ran for president against Lula this year, said, “I think he is the most (economically) liberal of all the Workers Party members.”
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