Rocha takes over IR at Brazil’s Petrobras

Brazil’s state-owned energy firm Petrobras has announced the internal appointment of a new head of IR, following a widespread shuffle of the firm’s executives and management over the past few months.

Isabela Mesquita Carneiro da Rocha, who has held several managerial positions at the oil producer during a 31-year career there, will take over as investor relations executive manager from CFO Ivan de Souza Monteiro, who has held the role on a temporary basis since February.

Rocha has gained a variety of experience at Petrobras after working across the company’s strategy, new business and exploration & production divisions. She also holds a chemical engineering degree from the Universidade Federal do Rio de Jeneiro, as well as an MBA in finance from the COPPEAD Graduate School of Business.

Monteiro was also promoted from within Petrobras, serving previously as vice president of financial management and IR, as part of a large-scale reshuffle in February following the departure of CEO Maria das Graças Silva Foster and five other executives amid allegations of a major corruption scandal. Petrobras was accused of having contractors pay vastly inflated prices for goods and services while siphoning money to its directors and Brazilian government officials.

It appears Rocha will face challenging conversations with the investment community from the off in her new role. It was reported this month that Petrobras expects to cut 12,000 jobs by 2020, and that the oil giant had suffered its largest quarterly loss to date ‒ $10.2 bn – in the final quarter of 2015, after losses at its oil fields and refinery projects.

In a press release sent out earlier this month, Petrobras announced that its daily oil and natural gas output had dropped 5.2 percent to hit a monthly total of 2.65 mn barrels.