Petrobras appoints interim CEO, removes CFO amid management reshuffle

Following the resignation of its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Brazil’s state-owned oil and gas giant Petrobras has confirmed the appointment of an interim CEO, along with an interim CFO after the current one was removed from his position.

After Petrobras’ CEO, Jean Paul Terra Prates, asked the company to consider his early termination and submitted a resignation from his position as a member of the board of directors, the Brazilian firm shared that his request was accepted at a meeting held on May 15, 2024, effective on that date.

As a result, Clarice Coppetti, Executive Director of Corporate Affairs at Petrobras, will take the helm as interim CEO until a new one is found. Since the board of directors removed Sergio Caetano Leite from the position of Chief Financial and Investor Relations Officer, current Finance Executive Manager, Carlos Alberto Rechelo Neto, is taking over as interim CFO.

Petrobras also offered some clarification about the announced appointment of Magda Maria de Regina Chambriard to the two positions formerly occupied by Prates. Chambriard’s nomination is set to undergo analyses at the company level, which will then be evaluated by the board of directors’ People Committee (COPE). According to the oil and gas giant, the evaluation process normally lasts up to 15 days.

After completing the COPE assessment, the board of directors will assess her appointment. The candidate will then perform the function until the first general meeting is held, which will most likely be the 2025 annual general meeting, as no meetings have been scheduled before that.

Chambriard’s appointment as CEO will be considered at the same meeting as her appointment to Petrobras’ board of directors, which does not require convening a shareholders’ meeting.

The oil and gas heavyweight has been focusing more on sustainability lately, taking steps towards electrification of multiple subsea wells on an oilfield off the coast of Brazil, and deploying Ocean Power Technologies power buoys (PB) for renewable energy production.

However, Petrobras’ core business is not lagging behind, with the company making an oil discovery for what it says is the second time this year in the Potiguar Basin on the Brazilian Equatorial Margin.