BRASIL: Petrobras Shares Sell-Off After $40 Billion Debt Plans Revealed.

BLOOMBERG/
  Petrobras CEO Jose Sergio Gabrielli (pictured) announced plans to raise between $30 billion and $40 billion of new debt over the next four years to finance oil investments. Petrobras already has $67 billion of  debt.
   The announcement has sent bond yields climbing the most in 12 months.
   Petrobras shares have declined 6.7 percent in the past month, leaving them down 31 percent so far this year.
   Moody's rates Petrobras Baa1, the third-lowest investment grade and two steps above the Brazilian government’s Baa3 grade.

BRASIL: 09 Dec. UPDATE: President -Elect Dilma Rousseff Interviewed; PBR's Gabrielli Reappointed; Palocci Chief Of Staff; 5 Coalition Members Get Cabinet Posts.

SLATE/ LALLY WEYMOUTH/
  Appointment news from President-elect Dilma Rousseff (pictured) is coming fast and furious.
    But first, a link to a recent interview that ran in the Washington Post... with questions like : "...Why is Brazil supporting a country that allows people to be stoned, that jails journalists?" AND "You have said publicly that you would like to see interest rates come down. Will you cut the budget or reduce the yearly increase in government spending?"

09 DECEMBER UPDATE: Rousseff has nominated 5 members from the centrist PMDB party, her biggest ally in the 10-party coalition, to cabinet positions.
FOR DETAILS, SEE:
http://en.mercopress.com/2010/12/09/brazil-s-main-coalition-partner-given-five-ministries-in-rousseff-s-cabinet
 FOR Gabrielli Re-appointment, SEE:
 http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-07/rousseff-said-to-reappoint-gabrielli-as-brazil-s-petrobras-chief.html
FOR Antonio Palocci appointment, SEE:
    The markets like Antonio Palocci and his market-friendly policies. He is a doctor who was Finance Minister from 2003 to 2006 during President Lula da Silva's   first term. He allowed loan payments to be deducted from paychecks that fueled a record expansion of credit among low-income families.Under his watch, inflation slowed to 5.3 percent from 17.2 percent.

 http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-25/rousseff-said-to-name-palocci-to-post-at-presidency-update1-.html

BRASIL: Rousseff Likely To Keep Gabrielli At Petrobras, Claims Newspaper; Domestic Refining A Priority.

REUTERS/
       The newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo claims President-elect Rousseff will keep Jose Sergio Gabrielli (pictured) as chief executive of Petrobras for at least another year.
      The paper says President Lula da Silva advised Rousseff to keep Gabrielli through 2011 to overhaul oil industry rules.
     At a conference in Rio, Gabrielli defended planned heavy domestic refining investments in the next five years to avoid relying on foreign refiners as fuel consumption soars.
     "Brasil could specialize in producing oil, exporting it to China, and then importing diesel, but that's insane. It doesn't make sense to do that if you can build a refinery here and boost flexibility, reduce risk, and reduce the possibility of predatory (actions) in the market," he said.
 FOR REFINING STORY, SEE:
http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE6AL2TD20101122

BRASIL: Petrobras May Delay Stock Offering; Real Sinks To 19 Month Low.

BLOOMBERG/     Petrobras CEO Jose Sergio Gabrielli may consider a delay selling as much as $25 billion in shares if global equity markets worsen. Petrobras has dropped 15% this month to the lowest level since March 2009. The biggest share sale in the Western Hemisphere in at least a decade had been planned for late July or early August.
There is more bad news for Brasil as its real fell for a sixth day to $1.895, the longest losing streak in 19 months, on speculation that falling commodities will lower exports. And the nation's Bovespa stock index  fell for a sixth day to 58,706.18, its longest losing streaks since October 2008.

BRASIL: Petrobras Sinks On New Share Sales Plan.

BLOOMBERG/     Petrobras chief Jose Sergio Gabrielli wants to tap global demand for a new $25 billion share sale by opening the offer to new investors. Petrobras shares fell after he announced change of plans because there are doubts that the government will invest if demand falters. Gabrielli said that investors are...“looking for Petrobras right now." The sale will now be “public, it’s going to be open to everybody. We think there is no problem in demand.” Gabrielli said Petrobras will do a traditional stock issue by end-July if Congress fails to approve the plan, despite the limited success of 5 recent public offerings.

BRASIL: Rousseff To Retain Lulu's Key Policymakers.

REUTERS/

High government sources report that Dilma Rousseff will retain an economic team that known to investors if elected president in October, including Finance Minister Guido Mantega, one of Lula's closest confidants; the president of state development bank BNDES Luciano Coutinho; and Petrobras chief executive Jose Sergio Gabrielli.

Petrobras Boss Defends Lula's Plan. Announces Another Santos Find. Says Reserves May Double.

BLOOMBERG/
Petrobras Chief Jose Sergio Gabrielli was in New York to defend President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s plan to increase control over energy through regulations being debated in Congress. “We are in a fantastic moment,” said Gabrielli. Brazil has the world’s biggest potential reserves and the ability “to develop the whole supply chain to provide goods and services to the oil industry,” he said.
Petrobras also announced finding another deposit of oil and natural gas in Brasil’s Santos Basin.
Petrobras’s proven oil reserves may more than double to as much as 35 billion barrels in the next two to three years from about 14 billion currently, he said.

$65 Oil Pays For Brasil's Sub-Salt Plan.

REUTERS.
Petrobras executive Jose Sergio Gabrielli says that the company could pay for planned investments in the pre-salt fields for the next five years without additional capital IF the price of oil stayed around $65 a barrel.

Petrobras Probe Begins.

From Bloomberg.

A Brasilian Senate probe into allegations that Petrobras evaded 4.4 billion reais ($2.4 billion) of taxes, overpaid for goods and may have favored the president’s supporters when it made charitable donations.