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 The hastily-assembled Frente Parlamentar Nacionalista
(Nationalist Parliamentary Front) made up by 132
congressmen of several parties took an urgent measure
and summoned Petrobras. "A $50-million x is way too much,"
said representative Vivaldo Barbosa, the Front president.
By Francesco Neves
All this fuss for an X? State oil company Petrobras had barely announced that it had
changed its name to PetroBrax when nationalists of all colors started to rally against the
move. Politicians from antagonist parties and worker union leaders let it to be known that
they would fight the new name, even going to court if necessary. Not because they didn't
like the sound of it, even if it was true for some, but because they smelled something
funny in the arrangement: probably a prelude to privatize the giant oil conglomerate.
The name change didn't last more than a couple of days though. Pressured by the public
reaction, Petrobras posted this message on its Website, 48 hours after having
announced-with fanfare-its new name: "Petrobras has suspended the measures to change
the trademark of the company. The decision was made at the request of the President of the
Republic, responding to the public reaction to this change. Questions concerning
Petrobras's foreign commercial activity will be analyzed at the appropriate time,"
Henri Philippe Reichstul Presidente da Petrobras.
Those responsible for the new name argued that it was a necessary measure to rid the
company of an image of inefficiency. The x, according to them, lends an air of modernity
and technological cutting edge (Esso has also changed to Exxon, hasn't it?) and would make
Petrobras—it had a record $5 billion profit in 2000—much more competitive in a
global market. The name change was announced December 26 and Petrobras has already paid
$350,000 to the São Paulo designing firm UND for the new PetroBrax logo.
That would be the fourth time that the company logo is altered. From 1954 to 1993, the
different logos always kept the Brazilian flag colors (green and yellow) and an image that
evoked the shape of the flag. In the last seven years the abbreviation BR received
prominence in the logo, but the name Petrobras and the yellow and green colors were kept.
What some House representatives were complaining about was the price tag attached to
the name conversion: $50 million in order to change logos and signs in approximately 7000
gas stations owned by Petrobras in Brazil and Argentina. The hastily-assembled Frente
Parlamentar Nacionalista (Nationalist Parliamentary Front) made up by 132 congressmen of
several parties took an urgent measure and summoned Petrobras president, Henri Philippe
Reichstul, to find a good explanation for the announced change. "A $50-million x is
way too much," said representative Vivaldo Barbosa, the Front president. Barbosa is
from Rio de Janeiro and belongs to the opposition party PDT (Partido Democrático
Trabalhista—Democratic Labor Party)
Rio representative Carlos Santana, from the PT (Partido dos Trabalhadores—Workers'
Party), another opposition party, has joined the chorus of protests: "It is
absurd," he said, "that in a country of 40 million miserable people, who are
starving, we can spend $50 million to throw in the trash the patrimony of a 50-year-old
company that is a resounding success here and overseas. There is no need for a name
change. The Petrobras name is more than 30 years old and it is well known. The Petrobras
president said that this was a commercial question. But we are worried that this is just
the first step to totally privatize the company." Santana admitted, however, that he
would like to see a more aggressive Petrobras acting in the international market.
The announcement of the new name didn't go well with the vast majority of the public if
the Globo On Line site is a reliable gauge. More than 80 percent of 2890 readers answered
No to the question: "Do you agree with the name change from Petrobras to PetroBrax
for better acceptance of the company in the foreign market?"
São Paulo CUT (Central Única dos Trabalhadores—Unified Workers' Central)'s
president, Antônio Carlos Spis, seemed indignant: "This a demoralization for the
Brazilian society. The measure's intention is to decharacterize the state company
trademark for a population that for 50 years saw Petrobras as a typically Brazilian
company. The company should invest in better working conditions for its workers and in the
maintenance of equipment so new ecological disasters can be avoided."
In the year 2000 alone, Petrobras had six serious incidents of oil leakage. On January
18, 1.3 million liters of oil contaminated the Guanabara Bay in Rio, after a duct at the
Duque de Caxias Refinery broke. On March 16, problems in the Almirante Barroso maritime
terminal caused the release of 7.250 liters of oil on Ilha Bela's pristine shores in São
Paulo's north coast. In what became the worst environmental disaster for Petrobras in the
last 26 years, 4 million liters of oil escaped from Presidente Getúlio Vargas Refinery,
on July 16, contaminating rivers and land in Araucária, a metropolitan area in Curitiba,
Paraná's state capital.
On August 8, an oil leakage in Caraúbas, state of Rio Grande do Norte, caused damage
to 80 km of Northeastern caatinga (brushwood area). 1,800 liters were spilled at
the time. Ilha Bela was again flooded by 86,000 liters of oil on November 4 when the cargo
ship Verginia II at the service of Petrobras had an accident. This time the coast of
Caraguatatuba and São Sebastião were also contaminated. On October 27, another 3000
liters of oil leaked from a Braspetro's (a Petrobras subsidiary) pipe, damaging
Paranaguá's bay in the state of Paraná.
Even people who are not known for their nationalism didn't favor Petrobras's attempt to
change its name. Pedro Martins Júnior, vice-president of Chase Manhattan Bank of Brazil,
for example, suggested that the state company should be worried with more pressing
questions such as opening the market and finding new ways for getting foreign financing.
"Looking at this as an investor I don't see it as a priority," he commented.
"I don't believe that the name change will have any significant impact on the
company's business."
Despite the recent criticism and oil spills, Petrobras had much to celebrate in 2000.
It increased its daily production from 1.3 million barrels in 1999 to 1.4 million last
year. But the company also started to prepare for the coming years with the opening of the
market. By 2005, the competition will have taken 30 percent of the fuel market. The
Petrobras monopoly erosion will accelerate starting January of next year, when the state
company will no longer be the exclusive seller of gasoline and diesel oil in Brazil.
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