Brazilian state-run energy giant Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PBR, PETR3.BR, PETR4.BR) expects 2013 to be a difficult year

Senhores,

Já é noticia no mundo todo esta situação da Estatal de Petróleo. Aqui, na Bahia, e Nordeste em geral, a empresa está atrasando o pagamento a fornecedores e algumas cidades-petróleo estão em em caos, se o fornecedor não recebe não paga os salários, o fornecedor do fornecedor, também, não recebe e a cascata se prolonga.
Vamos ver se, agora, nos livramos deste monopólio, não mais de direito, mas, de fato que impossibilita o crescimento de nossa indústria no país.

Interessante é constatar que o partido que nos governa e que sempre foi um "defensor" da Estatal será o, para nossa alegria, "coveiro desta empresa e, já ouço na imprensa daqui, que se deveria entregar o petróleo a iniciativa privada!!!
De certo temos uma contestação, alguma coisa, de profundo impacto e mudança, vai acontecer, pois, este quadro não se reverterá e, se isto acontecer, a conta será, mais uma vez, nossa!

E, acreditem, mais importante de tudo, se nos livramos de julgo de incompetência e jogo de interesses serão muito melhor para nós todos, principalmente, para os jovens estudantes da disciplinas de petróleo (e outras também), estes terão uma esperança de empregabilidade após a faculdade.  
Abraços a Todos!

Luiz Henrique
luizhenrique_99@yahoo.com

 Brazilian state-run energy giant Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PBR, PETR3.BR, PETR4.BR) expects 2013 to be a difficult year, as it pursues a turnaround strategy that still needs time to show concrete results, the firm's chief executive told analysts and reporters Tuesday.

At stake is the company's ability to stick to production goals while simultaneously undertaking one of the most ambitious investment projects in the global oil industry, a program that will require $237 billion of spending over the next five years.

Since taking office last year, Chief Executive Maria das Gracas Foster has sought to play down production expectations that had become overblown after a series of mammoth oil discoveries off the country's southeastern coast. But Petrobras even risks falling short of its revised target of 2.02 million barrels of crude oil per day, plus-or-minus 2%.

Petrobras just hit the low end of the target last year with crude output of 1.98 million barrels a day, and Ms. Foster expects production to be similar in 2013. "It's not going to be physically possible for us to produce more oil," she said.

Maintenance shutdowns at aging offshore platforms will continue to damp output in the first half of 2013, although five new platforms will come on stream through the end of the year, the executive said.

The new platforms set the stage for significant output increases in 2014 that should help improve Petrobras's finances, which have become stretched by the company's inability to raise gasoline and diesel prices enough due to government constraints. Petrobras has been losing money on its sales of imported fuel into the domestic market. Last month, the government, which fears higher fuel prices will stoke inflation, only granted the company a limited price increase. "We are always seeking a convergence between domestic and international prices," Ms. Foster said.

Concern about Petrobras's spending plans, which include investments of $48.5 billion for 2013, increased after net debt rose to 2.77 times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization at the end of 2012 from 1.6 times Ebitda at the end of 2011.

And debt will rise again, as Petrobras expects to raise about $20 billion from global capital markets this year, Chief Financial Officer Almir Barbassa said.

Petrobras spent $43 billion on investments in 2012, the most in the industry, prompting investment bank BTG Pactual to say it wasn't sure "how Petrobras has found confidence in its balance sheet to up capex even more."

Rising debt levels and hefty spending were among factors Moody's Investors Service cited when it changed its outlook for Petrobras to "negative" in December. Moody's negative outlook aside, Ms. Foster said Petrobras has not come under pressure to cut debt or face a ratings downgrade.

Ratings firms are taking a long-term view of the company rather than focusing on short-term financial straits, Mr. Barbassa, the CFO, said. As new platforms enter operation in the second half of 2013 and in 2014, the higher crude oil production "is the way we intend to bring our leverage back to a sustainable situation in the near future," he said.

Petrobras also expects to raise cash from a nearly $15 billion divestment program announced last year, with some deals expected to be completed in the second half of 2013, Ms. Foster said. The company expects to receive proposals for offshore blocks in Brazil and the Gulf of Mexico by the end of April and has put its Pasadena, Texas, refinery up for sale.

But Petrobras won't sell the refinery at any price, Ms. Foster said, since the shale oil boom in the U.S. has resulted in improved margins at Pasadena.