While it may be convenient to lay the blame at the feet of CEO Maria das Gracas Foster, that would not be entirely fair. When she took over in January of 2012, the stock price had already dropped $40 a share. No matter what, she can’t help but do better than that.
Snarkiness aside, Petrobras said in 2011 that it would invest $225 billion developing its offshore fields, the largest new discovery in the western hemisphere since the 1976 Cantarell discovery in Mexico’s portion of the Gulf of Mexico. The plan called for production of 4 million barrels a day by 2014. Last month the company produced an all-time high of 2.58 million barrels a day, up nearly 600,000 barrels a day from a year ago.
The company is also controlled by the Brazilian government, and like essentially every government-controlled oil company, Brazil exercises its control in ways that negatively affect Petrobras profits. For example, Petrobras may sell its refined products only at government-mandated (low) prices that keep the government, the unions and, presumably, most Brazilians happy but play havoc with earnings.
In addition to an indefinite delay in filing its third-quarter financial statements, Petrobras has also gotten entangled in a corruption scandal that could cost it billions of dollars in subsequent write-downs.
One recent bit of good news for Petrobras and investors in all Brazilian firms is that the recently reelected president is considering candidates to be her finance ministers who are widely viewed to be market friendly. How that will actually play out in the months and years ahead remains to be seen.
Petrobras shares traded as much as 8% higher Friday morning, and were trading up 6% at the noon hour, at $10.30 in a 52-week range of $8.80 to $20.94.
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