Brazil’s state oil firm Petrobras is giving a two-year extension to its CEO Pedro Parente, the firm’s board decided on Monday, according to Reuters.
Parente has been immersed in helping the company dig out from a hole of debt and scandal since taking the helm in May last year. His new term will last until March 2019.
Petrobras – whose massive oil reserves are mostly in offshore fields – carries the biggest debt of any oil company in the world.
And it has been hampered by two years of scandal arising from an infamous bribes-for-inflated-contracts scheme that has sunk numerous executives and prominent politicians.
Apart from restoring lustre to the company’s reputation, Parente’s challenge has been to reduce the red ink. This is being tackled through layoffs, budget cuts, reduced investment and asset sales, although some of the latter are in limbo because of court injunctions.
In Parente’s time in charge the share price has improved 60%.
