Updates with comments from Coelho.
Shareholders of Brazilian oil company Petrobras have approved the appointment of Jose Mauro Ferreira Coelho as the new chief executive and Marcio Andrade Weber as the new chairman, ending weeks of tension surrounding leadership at the state-controlled company.
On 6 April, Ferreira Coelho was nominated by the federal government, Petrobras' controlling shareholder, just days after an initial pick, Adriano Pires, withdrew from consideration. Andrade Weber was also a replacement nominee, picked after oil industry veteran Rodolfo Landim bowed out of consideration for the chairman role.
Ferreira Coelho, a former mines and energy ministry secretary, formally assumed the position at a swearing-in ceremony Petrobras' Rio de Janeiro headquarters this afternoon. His nomination was approved at a 13 April shareholder meeting almost exactly one year after the outgoing chief executive Joaquim Silva e Luna was voted into the role.
Ferreira Coelho said today during the ceremony "... practicing market prices is a necessary condition to create a competitive business environment, to attract investments, new agents to the market, expand infrastructure, and guarantee domestic supply," a signal of his commitment to market-based fuel pricing — an issue that prematurely ended the tenure of multiple successors.
He also spoke of creating conditions to further Petrobras' refinery divestment program. Market-based pricing is seen as key to attracting investors to the 1mn b/d of refining capacity the firm is selling. And he talked of improving communication with the public and lawmakers, an effort that has faltered in the past.
Ferreira Coelho reiterated the company's commitment to upstream development in the Campos basin — once the country's most important offshore regions and a politically-relevant regional job creator — and pursuing exploration opportunities in the Equatorial Margin and the Sergipe-Alagoas basin.
Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro fired Silva e Luna last month following an 11 March fuel price increase that incensed the country's political class. He was the second Petrobras chief executive to be fired by the populist Bolsonaro because of disagreements over fuel pricing.
The market is more confident that Ferreira Coelho and Andrade Weber will keep the company wed to the import price parity principle that guides its fuel pricing policy, which strives for alignment with import prices. The company's stock has climbed steadily on the Sao Paulo stock exchange ever since news of the nominations.
If Bolsonaro fails to secure a second four-year term in October elections, the executives are not likely be asked to remain in the roles by the incoming president, based on the current election landscape.
