Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) reported a 2015 net loss of $9.7 billion, up from a $6-billion loss in 2014.
The final result reflects a record quarterly loss of $10.3 billion during the fourth quarter. During the same period a year earlier, the Brazilian state-owned firm posted a $7.4-billion loss.
Catalysts behind the yearly result were impairments of assets and investments totaling $13.9 billion; exchange losses and interest expenses of $9.2 billion; and an operating loss of $3.5 billion, a decrease of 42% compared with that of 2014.
Petrobras in January slashed planned capital expenditures for 2015-19 by $32 billion from the previously reported amount to $98.4 billion (OGJ Online, Jan. 13, 2016). The new budget assumed an average Brent crude oil price in 2016 of $45/bbl.
A few weeks later, the firm reported that it would shed 14 senior management positions and 30% of 5,300 nonoperational managerial positions as part of the cost-cutting effort (OGJ Online, Feb. 1, 2016).