SÃO PAULO--Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff named 13 new members to her cabinet Tuesday, juggling positions to reward allies while maneuvering a politician tainted by a growing corruption scandal at state-controlled Petrobras out of her government.

Eduardo Braga, a senator and former governor from Brazil's Amazonas state, will head the powerful energy and mining ministry. He replaces Edison Lobão, who a government witness has linked to an alleged kickback and bribery scheme at Petrobras, accusations that Mr. Lobão has repeatedly denied.

Both Mr. Braga and Mr. Lobão are members of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), one of Brazil's largest parties and an ally of Ms. Rousseff's Workers" Party (PT), providing her government with vital support for passing legislation.

Ms. Rousseff's cabinet has 39 members, more than any other of the world's 10 biggest economies. The PT is the biggest party in the lower house of Congress and the second largest in the Senate, but falls far short of a majority in both. That means Ms. Rousseff needs to forge alliances with other political parties and doling out ministry positions is a proven method for gaining support.

The president "is facing a complicated political agenda, with slow economic growth and charges of corruption at Petrobras," said Rafael Cortez, a political analyst at the Tendencias consultancy in São Paulo. "Dilma needs to improve her relations with her allies" to get bills passed.

The PMDB will also keep the agriculture ministry. Ms. Rousseff is replacing Neri Geller, who held the minister job for only nine months, with Katia Abreu, a farmer and senator from the rural state of Tocantins and the president of the National Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock.

Ms. Rousseff's other appointments include Jacques Wagner, currently the governor of Bahia state, as new defense minister, Congressman Edinho Araújo as secretary of ports. In addition, Aldo Rebelo will leave his job as sports minister to take over at the science and technology ministry.

Ms. Rousseff's task of naming new ministers has been complicated by the scandal at Petrobras, Brazil's biggest company by sales. Federal investigators allege that at least two former executives and some of the country's biggest construction companies were involved in a yearslong kickback scheme in which bribes were paid for Petrobras contracts, and that some of the bribe money went to political parties.

One of the former Petrobras executives, who is cooperating with investigators, claimed several prominent politicians were involved in the scheme, including Mr. Lobão and various other members of allied parties who might otherwise have been potential ministers.

Mr. Lobão has denied any wrongdoing and said he needs to hear any specific charges before he can respond to them.

In addition to the Petrobras scandal, Mr. Braga, the new energy minister, will face an electricity sector that is in disarray. Brazil is suffering a severe drought that experts say could threaten hydroelectric dams that supply most of the nation's power. Utilities and investors were shaken after the government unilaterally decided to change the terms of contracts governing generation concessions.

"The electrical sector...suffered a lot because of the interventions of the federal government," said Joao Pedro Brugger, who manages 500 million reais ($189 million) at Leme Investimentos in Florianopolis.

Mr. Braga, 54, has little experience in the energy sector. He started his political career at the age of 21 when he was elected to the city council of Manaus, the capital of Amazonas state. He holds an engineering degree, but has spent most of his adult life holding elected office, with a break of a few years to run a network of Renault car dealerships in four states in northern Brazil.

"It's hard to say if this nomination is good or bad," said Mr. Brugger, the investment manager. "But it would be hard for him to be worse than Edison Lobão."

The announcement of the new ministers is the second phase of Ms. Rousseff's renovation of her cabinet for her second term, starting Jan. 1.

At the end of November, Ms. Rousseff announced her new economic team, composed of former treasury head Joaquim Levy as the new finance minister; Nelson Barbosa, who will take on the job of planning and budget minister; and with Alexandre Tombini staying on as president of the central bank after four years in the job.

Those first appointments won cautious approval from investors and economists, who said the economy team has the correct background to begin to reverse some of the old team's errors.

Write to Rogerio Jelmayer at rogerio.jelmayer@wsj.com and Jeffrey T. Lewis at jeffrey.lewis@wsj.com

Access Investor Kit for Petróleo Brasileiro SA

Visit http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=BRPETRACNOR9

Access Investor Kit for Petróleo Brasileiro SA

Visit http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=BRPETRACNPR6

Access Investor Kit for Dominion Resources, Inc.

Visit http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US25746U1097

Access Investor Kit for Petróleo Brasileiro SA

Visit http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US71654V4086

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires

Dominion Energy (NYSE:D)
Historical Stock Chart
From Feb 2024 to Mar 2024 Click Here for more Dominion Energy Charts.
Dominion Energy (NYSE:D)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2023 to Mar 2024 Click Here for more Dominion Energy Charts.