Brazil Fines Petrobras Ex Director US$3M

BRAZIL · PETROBRAS

Brazil’s securities regulator has punished the executive behind Petrobras’s costly purchase of a Texas refinery. Ten other former officials, including a former president, were not sanctioned.

Brazil’s securities regulator, the CVM, fined former Petrobras director Nestor Cerveró 16.1 million reais (about US$3.0 million) on Tuesday, 27 October. The agency also banned him for 15 years from serving as an administrator of listed companies.

The case concerns the Petrobras Pasadena refinery, a Texas plant in which the Brazilian oil giant bought a stake in 2006. Petrobras shares trade in New York, so US investors have followed the saga for years.

What the Regulator Decided

According to press reports of the ruling, the CVM board found that Cerveró abused his power and breached his duty of loyalty. The reports say he proposed a deal that benefited him and hid relevant information from those who approved it.

Cerveró was Petrobras’s international director in 2006. He admitted taking bribes in a plea deal with federal prosecutors, according to the CVM rapporteur’s report.

His defence argued that the time limit had expired and that the plea deal barred new sanctions. The reports say the CVM rejected the time-limit argument, and his lawyers declined to comment.

Paulo Roberto Costa, Petrobras’s former supply director, faced the same charge. He died in 2022, so the case against him was closed.

In Plain English

How the Petrobras Pasadena Refinery Deal Worked

A Belgian company, Astra Oil, agreed in 2004 to buy the Pasadena refinery from Crown Central Petroleum for US$42.5 million plus inventories. CVM director João Accioly, the case’s rapporteur, summarised the facts in a report posted before the hearing.

On Thursday, 2 February 2006, Petrobras’s executive board approved paying US$189 million for half the refinery. It also approved about US$170 million for half of a trading company.

Petrobras’s board of directors approved the purchase on Friday, 3 February 2006. The report says a valuation put the whole refinery at US$258 million as it stood.

That implies about US$129 million for half, far below the US$189 million Petrobras agreed. The prosecution called the price too high.

The deal also carried a “Marlim clause” guaranteeing Astra a minimum 6.9% return. It included a put option too, which could oblige Petrobras to buy Astra out.

The prosecution said the clause and the put option were missing from the papers sent to Petrobras’s executive board. Cerveró told investigators that such payments would have been made on any acquisition, the report records.

The partners later fell out over the plant upgrade and the put option. A settlement on Friday, 29 June 2012 ended the disputes for US$820.5 million, bringing Petrobras’s total outlay to about US$1.18 billion.

Petrobras signed a sale of the refinery to Chevron on Wednesday, 30 January 2019 for US$562 million, subject to adjustments. Its closing announcement cited US$467 million, made up of US$350 million for shares and US$117 million for working capital.

Who Else Was Charged

Ten other former Petrobras executives and board members faced the CVM over alleged lack of care in approving the deal. They included Dilma Rousseff, Brazil’s president from 2011 to 2016, who chaired the Petrobras board in 2006.

The list also included Antônio Palocci, a former finance minister, and José Sergio Gabrielli, then Petrobras’s chief executive. Seven other former directors and board members were named, including Almir Barbassa, Ildo Sauer and Renato Duque.

Reports of the ruling agree that none of the ten was sanctioned. They differ on the reason, with some saying acquittal and others saying the five-year deadline had passed.

The rapporteur’s report records that the ten said they trusted staff and advisers and were kept in the dark. Several also argued that the five-year limit expired in February 2011.

The prosecution had accused the ten of not asking for a full valuation or the missing documents. It said Cerveró and Costa held decisive influence over the approval.

What It Means for US Readers

Petrobras shares trade in New York as American depositary receipts, which are US-listed certificates backed by shares in Brazil. The accused in this case are individuals, so the ruling carries no direct penalty for the company or its shareholders.

The refinery sits in Texas and has belonged to US oil major Chevron since 2019. In January 2018 Petrobras agreed to pay US$2.95 billion to settle a US class action over the wider scandal, denying any wrongdoing.

For background, see the Rio Times Petrobras company profile and its report on Petrobras 2026 results. The 2019 refinery sale is covered in Petrobras Sells Pasadena Refinery to Chevron.

What Is Not Known

The CVM had not posted its written ruling when this was written, so the outcome comes from several Brazilian press accounts. The vote count and the exact grounds for each decision are therefore not confirmed here.

It is not known whether Cerveró will appeal. The CVM warns that its case reports can change after a judgment session.

What Comes Next

The next step is the CVM’s written ruling, which should show the vote and why the ten others were not sanctioned. Any appeal by Cerveró would follow.

This was an administrative ruling, not a criminal sentence, and it carries no prison term. It does not replace the criminal cases that grew out of Car Wash.

Frequently Asked Questions

What did the CVM decide about the Petrobras Pasadena refinery?

The CVM fined former director Nestor Cerveró 16.1 million reais (about US$3.0 million) and banned him for 15 years from company administration. It did not sanction ten other former officials, according to press reports.

Who is Nestor Cerveró?

He was Petrobras’s international director in 2006 and admitted taking bribes in a plea deal with federal prosecutors. The CVM found he abused his power in the Pasadena purchase.

How much did the Pasadena refinery cost Petrobras?

Petrobras paid US$359 million for half in 2006 and US$820.5 million in a 2012 settlement, about US$1.18 billion in all. It agreed to sell the refinery to Chevron in 2019 for US$562 million, subject to adjustments.

Was Dilma Rousseff punished?

She was not punished, since she was among ten former officials who were not sanctioned. Press reports say the charge against them was lack of care.

Does the ruling affect US investors in Petrobras?

The ruling punishes an individual, not the company, so it carries no direct penalty for shareholders. Petrobras shares trade in New York as depositary receipts.

Sources: CVM judgment session agenda, 27 October 2026; CVM rapporteur report, PAS 19957.011024/2019-31; Petrobras filing with the US SEC, 3 January 2018; Petrobras sale announcement, 30 January 2019, as republished; Petrobras closing announcement, 2019, as republished; Brazilian press reports of the ruling, 27 October 2026: report 1, report 2, report 3, report 4. Exchange rate from open.er-api.com, 28 October 2026: 5.35 reais per US$ (all accessed 28 October 2026).