By Rodrigo Viga Gaier
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Brazilian Treasury official Esteves Colnago has been tapped for a position on the executive board of Petrobras, two sources told Reuters on Thursday, as part of a broad shakeup at the state-run oil company under its new chief executive.
It was not immediately clear if Colnago, who served as planning minister under the 2016 to 2018 government of President Michel Temer, would accept the offer, said the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss internal personnel matters.
The sources described the move as part of a range of changes that Chief Executive Caio Paes de Andrade is making in the first months of his tenure. Andrade assumed the top spot at Petrobras in June after President Jair Bolsonaro, upset at rising fuel prices, fired two of his predecessors in rapid succession.
Colnago, who declined to comment, currently serves as Brazil’s special Treasury and Budget secretary. He had previously served a special advisor for Institutional Relations at the Economy Ministry, acting in that capacity as the go-between for the Economy Ministry and Congress.
The market is closely watching Petrobras, formally Petroleo Brasileiro SA, for any hint that it might ditch its official policy of pegging domestic fuel rates to international rates. President Bolsonaro is facing a tight runoff election on Oct. 30 against leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and Petrobras will be under significant political pressure not to accompany any global fuel price increases resulting from a Wednesday decision by OPEC+ to cut outpoint.
The sources said Colnago’s potential appointment to Petrobras had no relation to the company’s pricing policy.
The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Rodrigo Viga Gaier; Writing by Gram Slattery; Editing by David Gregorio)
