Petroperú in the shadow of what Hugo Chávez Arévalo leaves behind

Petroperú has returned this week to occupy the front pages of the country after the departure of the questioned economist Hugo Chávez Arévalo, who held the positions of general manager and member of the board at the same time. The person called to replace him in office is Jesus Fernando De la Torrecorporate finance manager of the state oil company and staff close to his predecessor.

For the specialist in energy issues, Aurelio Ochoa Alencastrethe departure of Chávez Arévalo leaves two important lessons for the administration of the state oil company in the future: a managerial position cannot be held at the same time by an acting director, and differences due to hand-picked appointments in the Executive must not lead to samples of a split cabinet.

“Never in the history of Petroperú have there been general managers who, simultaneously, play the role of a member of the board of directors. There is a hierarchy in which the order of the positions is highly respected, otherwise the administration of the state company is unworthy, ”he said.

“Something that has never happened either is that the MEF and Minem have publicly disagreed on how it has been seen. That is a distortion of the professional manner in which the institution has been managed historically,” added Ochoa Alencastre.

In this sense, the also former president of Perupetro criticized that the lack of decision of President Pedro Castillo to remove those involved is reflected in low credit ratings for the state oil company, at a time when its participation acquires a key role for the energy security of the country.

“When the internal auditor, such as the Comptroller’s Office, is not given the information or its access is obstructed, it is a bad sign for international observers. And we have already seen how PwC He decided to withdraw due to these conditions. We are hanging by a thread to have problems with our bonds, ”she said.

For this reason, he considered it necessary for the interests of the country that the board resume its functions, since it is made up of personnel with a lot of experience in the industry, such as engineer Contreras, an oil specialist, or Rafael Zoeger, “who are light years away from the people what comes out”.

“It has already been seen in the case of Chávez Arévalo that he reported directly to the Government Palace, something that has never happened. That is what the president of the board of directors is for and an important sign that he has taken back the helm is that they have canceled the contract with his questionable security company. Although with the arrival of Mr. De la Torre we are almost like what happened with MTC and Minjus, where he has simply changed pieces on the board”, he indicated.

Petroperú: more changes are needed

For his part, the former Minister of Energy and Mines, Carlos Herrera Descalzi, criticized the delay in the relief of the general management of the Peruvian state company and considered that it was “practically forced” by the reluctance of the MEF to give it the go-ahead. For this reason, she said that more than one change is required from the Government.

“I think that the board of directors of Petroperú and Minem look bad. If you really want a change, you have to change everyone: change the board of directors, the minister, and of course the general manager, but if it is another friendly person, related, it is only a name change and the repercussions can be bad”, stressed.

He also pointed out that one of the collateral damages after the frustrated management of Chávez Arévalo is the loss of Petroperú’s credit rating, which reached the level of “junk debt” for S&P, a situation that would distance the company from lots of Talarawhose concession in the hands of private companies is about to expire.

“In the oil market it is very good business to get what is there; what’s not such a good deal, unless you hit it right, is finding reservations. That is the case of Talara, but a good company is needed to handle the assignment in such a way that it can invest in exploration, not just exploitation and take what is there. Who is going to lend you money today or associate with Petroperú? No one would join a partner who has no credit,” he pointed out.

“What was wanted was to change from several small companies to a large one that could direct the interests of Peru. That was lost, and in fact Petroperú today is not in a position to do it”, he explained.

In this sense, the also former dean of the College of Engineers of Peru (CIP) said he hopes that the new Talara refinery will be ready by next April, as promised, since the oil company has a huge debt for its start-up and “would have to charging the population just when prices are sky high.”

“Before the pandemic, crude oil had a negative value of about 20 dollars a barrel, that was a good time to raise money. But with 100 dollars it would be impossible. It would be absurd to have the state company charging the prices of the Talara refinery, while the state fund is subsidizing oil prices so that the consumer does not pay such high prices”, he stressed.

“The next thing is that they say that Peru’s debt is worth nothing, it is unlikely but we are not that far away either. If we want to see a change, it has to be radical. If the same administration continues, nothing can be expected for this year”, concluded the expert.