VALE Vale SA

SÃ O PAULO—Brazilian state-controlled oil company Petró leo Brasileiro SA named Luiz Nelson de Carvalho, as its chairman in an interim basis, after Murilo Ferreira decided to take a temporary leave of absence.

Mr. Carvalho is a member of Petrobras' board since May and is the head of the company's audit committee.

On Monday, Petrobras said that Mr. Ferreira, who was just elected to the post in April, will step away until Nov. 30, without giving further details.

Mr. Ferreira isn't taking leave from Brazilian mining giant Vale SA, however, where he currently serves as chief executive, according to a spokeswoman for that company, who attributed his decision regarding Petrobras to "personal reasons."

In a separate statement, Petrobras said that it proposed to certain workers a plan to reduce their salaries and the equivalent in working hours, by up to 25%, amid an effort to reduce its costs.

The company is facing a challenging scenario amid huge debt and drop in oil prices. Petrobras is the world's most leveraged oil company. As of June 30, the company was carrying 415.55 billion reais ($109 billion) in total debt, up 18% from the end of last year.

Write to Rogerio Jelmayer at rogerio.jelmayer@wsj.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 15, 2015 07:45 ET (11:45 GMT)

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