By Jeffrey T. Lewis


SÃO PAULO--Brazil's president-elect, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, said he will nominate Senator Jean Paul Prates as chief executive officer of state-controlled oil company Petróleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras.

Mr. da Silva, who was president of Brazil from 2003-2010 and will take office again on Jan. 1 after winning the country's October Presidential elections, made the announcement in a tweet Friday afternoon.

Mr. Prates studied law economics in Brazil and has a masters degree in energy planning and environmental management from the University of Pennsylvania and has been a senator for the state of Rio Grande do Norte since 2019, according to his website.

The 54-year-old senator has worked in the energy field for decades, including founding a consultancy specialized in petroleum in 1991 and developing an energy plan for the state government of Rio Grando do Norte in 2001, his website says.

Mr. Prates will replace Caio Mario Paes de Andrade, who was appointed by outgoing Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro earlier this year after complaints by Mr. Bolsonaro about the company's fuel price policy.

Brazilian governments have often used Petrobras as a tool of economic policy, by directing investments in favored areas and keeping fuel prices low to help slow inflation, among other things. Brazil's Congress in 2016 passed a law reducing governments' ability to interfere in state companies. A bill relaxing the rules established in the 2016 law is slated to be considered by Congress next year.


Write to Jeffrey T. Lewis at jeffrey.lewis@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

12-30-22 1403ET