Rio de Janeiro – The CEO of Brazilian state-run Petrobras, Aldemir Bendine, said this Tuesday (15) that the oil company will come out much stronger and more mature from the crisis. According to him, within four years the company “will be smaller than it was, but surely more profitable and better than today, and with a stronger operational capacity.” Bendine, who attended a breakfast with journalists, guaranteed that the divestments program put in place this year was much more than a simple structuring process. He assured that next year, the program will be rolled out in a much speedier and deeper way.
“I can guarantee that this divestment will come next year at a much faster pace than imagined. We are absolutely positive that we will meet the planned figures, because the conditions have been laid out, talks are underway and the outlook is great.” According to Aldemir Bendine, this year the company managed to surprise markets and get “fortunate returns” on the transfer of some of (gas industry arm) Gaspetro shares to private equity. According to him, Petrobras obtained “much higher than expected returns without relinquishing control over the subsidiary.”
According to the executive, in spite of all market adversities, especially those stemming from the falling international oil prices, the company’s cash position affords it tranquility. “Positive signals from the market have allowed us foresight of where capital could be raised. This paved the way for more attractive [lines of credit], which in turn enabled refinancing of the company’s debt. Despite the adverse scenario, we were able to trim down the company’s US dollar debt by roughly 5%. Therefore, net debt has gone down.”
Bendine also said that in 2016, the state-owned company will boast a robust cash position with which to meet commitments and more challenging problems. “The [2016-2020] Business Plan we will present early next year will match the new market reality. As we proceed with our divestment efforts, we will see that the outlook for Petrobras will be a much more positive one,” he added.
According to him, the company proved that it can work amid an adverse scenario. “It was imaginable that the company might be forced to work with a USD 40 barrel, after the price of the commodity hit USD 114 at the end of july 2014. We are overcoming a scenario of economic uncertainty,” he concluded.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum