Petrobras CEO, Five Executive Directors Resign

(RTTNews) - Confirming media speculation, Brazil's state-run oil company Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (PZE), commonly known as Petrobras, announced the departure of its CEO Maria das Graças Foster and five Executive Directors, effective February 6, when the Board of Directors would meet to elect new Executive Board members.

The five executive directors who resigned are Almir Guilherme Barbassa, CFO and Chief Investor Relations Officer; José Miranda Formigli, Upstream Director; José Carlos Cosenza, Downstream Director; José Alcides Santoro, Gas and Power Director and José Antônio de Figueiredo, Engineering, Technology and Procurement Director.

A report in Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo had said Tuesday that the country's president Dilma Rousseff has decided to replace the company's chief executive officer Maria das Graças Foster.

Rousseff and Foster held a meeting at the presidential palace in Brasilia on Tuesday afternoon. It was reportedly agreed that very senior executives of the oil company would resign at the end of the month.