By Jeff Fick
RIO DE JANEIRO--Brazilian state-run energy company Petróleo
Brasileiro said Friday that it would offer voluntary buyouts to
some workers as it attempts to boost productivity and cut costs
amid a large spending plan to develop oil fields.
Petrobras said in a regulatory filing that the buyouts would be
offered to workers age 55 and older. Petrobras currently employs
62,779 people, a company spokeswoman said. Petrobras didn't provide
any further details about how many workers were being targeted.
The buyouts would help Petrobras reduce costs as the company
spends $237 billion through 2017 to develop oil fields discovered
off Brazil's coast. The undertaking has come at great cost to
Petrobras, which has seen its debt more than quadruple to $86.5
billion as the company borrows heavily to finance the spending.
Petrobras said the buyouts would help the company meet targets
set by the investment plan.
The move also could represent an effort by the government to
reduce spending, which economists say contributes to higher
inflation. Brazil ended 2013 with inflation at 5.91%, above the
government's 4.5% target and the 5.84% rate in 2012. The upswing in
prices frustrated the government and central bank, which had
pledged to deliver a lower inflation rate last year.
State-run utilities holding company Centrais Eletricas
Brasileiras SA announced a voluntary severance plan last year aimed
at cutting costs so the company could boost investments. A person
with knowledge of the plan said at the time that Eletrobras hoped
to cut 5,000 workers.
Write to Jeff Fick at jeff.fick@wsj.com