Pitfalls at Petrobras

摘要

Petrobras used to impress the oil world with its expertise at tapping the black stuff thousands of metres beneath the ocean floor. Now Brazil's oil behemoth is better known for plumbing a different kind of depth. It is mired in a multi-billion-dollar bribery scandal, indebted to the hilt and worth a third of the 405 billion reais ($250 billion) it was valued at shortly after its initial public offering in 2010. On February 4th its beleaguered boss, Maria das Gracas Foster, succumbed to pressure and resigned, along with five senior executives. Investors rejoiced: Petrobras's shares, which had sunk by 17% the previous week, rebounded. Yet most of its woes are not Ms Foster's fault. The government, which has a controlling stake, makes most of the big decisions. These have included making Petrobras hire and buy parts from inefficient local firms; telling it to build refineries in unappealing places, in the name of regional development; and making Petrobras the only principal operator in Brazil's vast offshore pre-sal ("beneath the salt") fields.