Brazil: A Franco-Brazilian close to Lula at the head of Petrobras

by time news

Published on :

Jean-Paul Prates is a new key man for Lula’s government in Brazil. This close friend of the new president, Franco-Brazilian by profession, has just been appointed president of Petrobras, Brazil’s public oil company.

Petrobras is considered by many to be the jewel of the Brazilian state. Production reached more than three million barrels per day, record profits last year. Jair Bolsonaro wanted to privatize the company. Out of the question for Lula, who places one of his henchmen in the presidency of Petrobras.

Senator of the Labor Party since 2019, Jean-Paul Prates says he is ready to take on his new task. “ Fuel policy is a matter for government, he explained when he was appointed in early January, we have to take advantage of Brazil’s self-sufficiency in oil and the near self-sufficiency we have in refining capacity. There must be a competitive advantage for the economy and citizens. At the same time, remunerating the investment in these activities is also a challenge. »

Price reduction objective

Challenges, Jean-Paul Prates will have more than one. He says he wants to restore Petrobras to its former glory. But chairman of the oil company is a risky position. Jair Bolsonaro has it changed three times during his tenure. All deemed unable to stem the rise in fuel prices.

Read also: In Brazil, the president of Petrobras sacked 40 days after being appointed

« It’s obviously a complicated job. Certainly Petrobras is an extraordinarily important company in Brazil, and obviously the president of Petrobras plays an extremely important role, explains Jean-Pierre Favennec, energy specialist, particularly oil and gas. He is the one who makes the big decisions. There were corruption issues in Brazil and Petrobras was involved in one of those scandals. So there have been quite a few changes. But now, the company is back on a good footing. There are fields to put into production, there is always the need for oil. So Petrobras’ position is important. It is a key company for Brazil. »

Read also: Lula recognizes corruption at Petrobras

The roadmap of Jean-Paul Prates at the head of Petrobras will therefore be to reduce fuel prices. It’s necessary ” brazilianize the fuel “. This is what Lula chanted during the election campaign. Now we have to implement it. For Jean-Paul Prates, the price of gasoline at the pump must be dissociated from global prices: “ We are not going to create a parallel economy in Brazil. But we will have to stop comparing the prices of fuel leaving our refineries with that coming from the other side of the world. The refinery next door is quite capable of producing at a lower cost, with a very comfortable margin. It’s not dumping. If I can sell for less, because I am close to the final consumer, why would you forbid me to do so? ? », he said at a recent press conference.

Read also: Engie will be able to acquire the Petrobras gas pipelines

A left-wing man in love with France

Fundamentally changing the pricing policy seems very difficult for some analysts. But Prates, very close to oil circles, also an energy adviser to Lula, may be the ideal transmission belt. The man is above all an oil expert, working for many years at Petrobras before fully launching into politics. He is seen as a moderate within Lula’s Labor Party, and he is the first Franco-Brazilian senator in the history of the Brazilian Republic. His mother had fled France during the Second World War and it was near Paris that Jean-Paul Prates did part of his studies. “ He went through what was called, at the time, “The School of Petroleum and Engines” which is now called IFP School, says Jean-Pierre Favennec, then one of his teachers in the early 1990s. He was already, at the time, a quite remarkable boy. He had a brilliant career and he is a man of great quality. »

He is also a leftist. In Brazil as in France where he had voted in 1988, slipping into the ballot box a François Mitterrand bulletin.

► To read also: The CEO of an Emirati oil company appointed president of COP28: “It’s a scandal”

You may also like

Leave a Comment