Questão 868331

Text LI-I – questions 7 and 8

PETROBRAS became the latest oil group to benefit from last year’s surge in oil prices when the Brazilian company reported that net profits in 2000 had more than quadrupled to R\$ 9.94 bn (US\$ 4.97 bn) — the highest figure ever recorded by a Brazilian company.

The rise in net profits was the result of increases in production and the company’s efforts to scale up bureaucracy.

Under the leadership of Henri Philippe Reichstul, who took over as president in 1999, PETROBRAS has embarked on a US\$ 33 bn investment plan over five years to virtually double oil and gas production, clean up the company’s financial affairs and expand abroad.

In August last year, PETROBRAS boosted its profile in the international investment community with a successful US\$ 4 bn share offering, the largest made by a Brazilian company.

However, the group’s effortsto modernize itsimage suffered a setback in December when the government forced it to abandon a plan to change its name to “PETROBRAX” which was designed to reflect its increasing international presence.

Internet: <http://news.ft.com/news/worldnews/americas> (with adaptations).

Based on text LI-I, it can be concluded that

Henri Philippe Reichstul became PETROBRAS's president the year before last.