Mensajepor quique43 » Mié Dic 17, 2014 7:03 pm
Que sirva de experiencia de lo que no hay que hacer, y pone en evidencia lo que la corrupciòn puede.
Giant Killer
In 2006, Petrobras discovered 8 billion barrels of oil under 22,000 feet of ocean, rock, and salt. Originally called the Tupi field, the name was changed in 2010 to the Lula field, in honor of former Brazilian president Lula da Silva.
Within two years of that massive oil discovery, shares of Petrobras would peak above $70 a share, valuing the company around $295 billion.
Today, Petrobras shares are trading under $7. The company is worth around $40 billion. And the reason has very little to do with current oil prices.
The Brazilian government owns ~70% of Petrobras, and it is milking it for all it's worth. Petrobras has been mismanaged by the government and bilked by politicians and contractors.
For instance:
In 2010, Petrobras paid $43.5 billion to the Brazil government for the rights to the Buzia offshore oil field, which has 5 billion barrels of oil. Petrobras has spent another $200 billion developing the field and now has to pay another $1 billion for permission to exceed its original production agreement (yes, it has to pay to pump more oil).
In 2010, the Brazilian President demanded that Petrobras sell gasoline below costs to keep inflation in check. Petrobras lost $8.4 billion at its refineries division that year.
Petrobras lost billions of dollars on an oil refinery in Pernambuco and spent $1 billion on a plant in Texas — signed off by Rousseff — that was sold two years later at a markdown of 80%.
Last month, Brazilian police arrested officials at construction companies that allegedly formed a cartel to win contracts, including 59 billion reais ($23 billion) of work from the oil producer.
Former senior executive Paulo Roberto Costa was just arrested as part of a massive fraud investigation. He claims 12 Brazilian senators, 49 federal deputies, and at least one governor had allegedly received money diverted from the public utility. Police estimated those involved embezzled around $4 billion.
Petrobras has sold $51 billion in bonds over the last five years to yield-starved global investors — nearly a quarter of all corporate bonds emanating from Brazil and the most of any emerging-market company. Total debt for Petrobras is now around $150 billion.
What should have been the best of times for a major oil company was really just an opportunity for politicians to line their pockets. And now that they have saddled the company with $150 billion in debt, oil prices have crashed.
Oh, and U.S. bond giant PIMCO owns $6.45 billion in Petrobras debt. Mutual fund giant Fidelity owns another $3.75 billion.
How will Petrobras pay its debt? How will Brazil fund its government now that it has destroyed its best asset in Petrobras?
As you might guess, this is not an isolated event. What do you think Putin is doing with Gazprom in Russia? Or Maduro in Venezuela with PDVSA?