OREANDA-NEWS. March 09, 2012. During a meeting held today (Feb. 9), our Board of Directors elected Maria das Gracas Silva Foster as CEO of Petrobras, replacing current CEO Jose Sergio Gabrielli de Azevedo, who shall remain in office until next Monday (Feb. 13), when the new CEO will be inaugurated.

Jose Sergio Gabrielli is leaving of our Board of Directors, which elected Maria das Gracas Silva Foster as a new director. This election, as provided for in the Corporations Law and in Petrobras' By-Laws, will remain valid until the next General Shareholder Meeting.

Maria das Gracas Silva Foster has been working at Petrobras for 31 years, where she has been serving as the director for the Gas & Energy area and as the chairwoman of Petrobras Gas S.A. (Gaspetro) since 2007. She holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from the Federal Fluminense University (UFF), a Master's Degree in Chemical Engineering, a post-graduate degree in Nuclear Engineering from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (COPPE/UFRJ), and an MBA in Economics from the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV/RJ).

In addition to having held several executive positions, Maria das Gracas Silva Foster has served as the CEO of Petrobras Quimica S.A. (Petroquisa) and as CEO and Chief Financial Officer of Petrobras Distribuidora S.A. She is the chairwoman of the Board of Transportadora Brasileira Gasoduto Bolivia-Brasil S.A (TBG), of Transportadora Associada de Gas S.A (TAG), and a member of the Boards of Petrobras Transporte S.A. (Transpetro), Petrobras Biocombustivel S.A. and Braskem S.A.

In her career, she also served as the Ministry of Mines and Energy's secretary for Oil, Natural Gas and Renewable Fuels from January 2003 to September 2005.

We would like to thank director and CEO Jose Sergio Gabrielli de Azevedo for the relevant services he has rendered and highlight his leadership, technical competence and high degree of professionalism and dedication in the performance of his duties.