The country's largest company, the state-owned oil company has barely had time to navigate calm waters again after the storm of the "Lavage Express" corruption mega-scandal.

Petrobras posted record net profit in 2021 of nearly $20 billion, but its turnaround has taken a back seat as tensions around its executives capture attention.

Far-right head of state Jair Bolsonaro sacked General Joaquim Silva e Luna, the company's second president during his term, last week, criticizing the "lack of sensitivity" of his pricing policy.

His predecessor, Roberto Castello Branco, was sacked a year ago over a disagreement with Jair Bolsonaro over fuel prices set by Petrobras.

The price of fuel, aligned with the international market, has risen by 33% in one year, a price deemed "impossible to pay" by the Head of State.

In this election year, which will see a highly polarized presidential election, Jair Bolsonaro's main opponent, the left-wing ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, also went there with his pikes against the oil company.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro (l) at Planalto Palace in Brasilia, March 31, 2022, and former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Londrina, Brazil, March 19, 2022 EVARISTO SA, Ricardo CHICARELLI AFP/Archives

"Get ready, we are going to + Brazilianize + the price of fuels", recently launched the former trade unionist during a speech in Rio de Janeiro.

But the internal regulations of Petrobras, listed on the stock exchanges in Sao Paulo and New York, and the fact that Brazil is not self-sufficient in oil, prevent any drastic change in pricing policy, according to analysts consulted by AFP.

“We could create a stabilization fund to attenuate price variations, but it is not possible to fundamentally change the pricing policy,” explains Gesner Oliveira, economist at the Getulio Vargas Foundation.

Complicated succession

Some 75% of Brazilians hold President Bolsonaro responsible for the double-digit inflation boosted by rising fuel prices.

For Gesner Oliveira, Joaquim Silva e Luna was sacrificed by Bolsonaro "to satisfy his electorate".

"Manipulating pricing policy is like manipulating the law of gravity," General Silva e Luna said in an interview with the weekly Veja, after being fired.

But since his dismissal, the government has had great difficulty in finding him a successor.

The first to be appointed, the economist Adriano Pires, renounced to assume this position because of a possible conflict of interest with his consulting firm.

The Brazilian press reported several refusals from other personalities approached, until the government finally opted on Wednesday for José Mauro Coelho, who was in charge of oil issues at the Ministry of Mines and Energy.

Photo provided by Agencia Brasil showing Jose Mauro Coelho, then in charge of oil issues at the Ministry of Mines and Energy, interviewed by a public radio in Brasilia, August 3, 2021 Fabio POZZEBOM AGENCIA BRASIL/AFP/Archives

His taking office will only be possible after the approval of his appointment by the general meeting of shareholders on April 13.

In 68 years of existence, Petrobras has known a waltz of presidents: 39 precisely, with an average longevity of less than two years.

"It's a position exposed to very strong political pressure, and each dismissal is like an easy political response to a complex economic problem," said Adriano Laureno of the consultancy firm Prospectiva.

"Heritage"

Another hot topic: a possible privatization of Petrobras, already mentioned several times by President Bolsonaro.

On the sidelines of negotiations on Brazil's accession to the OECD in Paris, the Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes, an ultra-liberal "Chicago Boy", said at the end of March that he "dreamed" of privatizing the company. , but assured that this would not take place during the current "first term" of Jair Bolsonaro.

The fate of Petrobras is therefore intimately linked to the presidential election in October, with its share of uncertainties, Lula currently being the favorite in the polls.

For privatization to materialize, it must be approved by Parliament, the majority of whose elected officials are still resistant to the idea, as are Brazilians in general (54%), according to a Poderdata poll.

"In Parliament and among the population, Petrobras is considered the jewel of the Brazilian state", says Adriano Laureno.

© 2022 AFP