New Petrobras president defends pricing policy upon taking office

In his inauguration ceremony, the new president of Petrobras, José Mauro Coelho, defended this Thursday (14) as “necessary” for the country to practice fuel market prices, the target of criticism in the opposition and in the government itself.

In a meeting this Thursday, the company’s board of directors approved the appointment of Coelho to the presidency of the state-owned company, to replace General Joaquim Silva e Luna, fired by President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) after the mega-increase in fuel prices, in March. .

“The practice of market prices is a necessary condition for creating a competitive business environment, for attracting investments, for expanding the country’s infrastructure and for guaranteeing supply,” he said.

In a speech that reinforces statements already given when he was a member of the government, Coelho argued that the practice of market prices improves competition in the sector, “with benefits for the consumer”.

“It is important to emphasize that, although we are self-sufficient and oil exporters, we are importers of various fuels, which imposes great challenges on market agents and the federal government to guarantee supply,” he said.

He gave a tone of continuity in relation to the strategy adopted by the company in recent years, defending the sale of assets in refining and natural gas and the focus of investments on exploration and production of the pre-salt.

He stated, for example, that Petrobras will maintain the strategy of focusing its refining operations in regions close to oil production and the largest consumer markets. The current strategy foresees that the company will only have the refineries installed in the Southeast region.

And he repeated arguments that had been used by his predecessor, when he argued that strengthening Petrobras’ finances brings gains to the country in the form of taxes and government participation paid on oil production.

He said, however, that the company needs to improve its external communication, to explain the benefits of the company’s strategy. “Often, we are unable to have communication that reaches the Brazilian people in a palatable way.”

On Wednesday (13), Coelho had been approved to join the company’s board of directors, in a confusing meeting that lasted almost ten hours and ended with a government maneuver to postpone the vote on the reform of the statute that would increase the company’s shield against interference. policy.

At the inauguration ceremony this Thursday, the new president of the state-owned company showed support for the strengthening of the governance structure made by previous administrations and promised the continuity of this process.

Held in one of the buildings used by Petrobras in Rio de Janeiro, the ceremony was short and with few guests – in addition to employees of the state-owned company, authorities from the energy sector and Coelho’s family were present. The press did not have access to the event.

Former Secretary of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels at the MME (Ministry of Mines and Energy), Coelho will have the challenge of balancing the pressures against the fuel price policy and the company’s governance rules.

His predecessor was fired after allowing this rise to be passed on to domestic prices, authorizing increases of 24.9% in the price of diesel, 18.8% in the price of gasoline and 16.1% in the price of cooking gas in the second week of March. .

With the transfer of the mega-increases to the pumps, the final prices of the three products reached record values ​​since the ANP (Agência Nacional do Petróleo, Gás e Biocombustíveis) began its weekly survey at gas stations in 2004.

At the inauguration ceremony of Coelho, the Minister of Mines and Energy, Bento Albuquerque, thanked Silva and Luna for the work carried out, which, according to him, “is reflected in the significant results achieved by Petrobras during his administration”.

Also hired in the midst of a crisis generated by the rise in fuel prices, the general maintained the policy of aligning prices to the international market and stayed in office for less than a year.

He left feeling betrayed by Bolsonaro, complaining about the way in which the resignation was announced, and declared that “there is no room for adventurers at Petrobras”.