Image Source: Petrobras.com
 

(Reuters) - Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff accepted an offer by Petrobras (PBR) Chief Executive Officer Maria das Graças Foster to step down this month, setting in motion a plan to replace senior management at the embattled state-run oil company, a government source said on Tuesday.

Earlier on Tuesday, presidential spokesman Thomas Traumann denied that Rousseff and Foster reached a conclusion about her possible resignation in a meeting at the presidential palace.

After a corruption investigation that consumed the last three quarters of 2014, in December, 36 indictments were made, with more expected after the Brazilian Supreme Court resumed session on Feb. 1.

According to the WSJ this evening,

The chief executive of Brazil’s state-run oil firm Petróleo Brasileiro SA is on her way out but will stay on at least until the company’s delayed audited third quarter results are released, likely in a month, according to people familiar with the matter.

...

Petrobras is working to put a dollar amount on just how much the inflated contracts cost the company, but left off an expected write-down last week when it reported its delayed, unaudited third quarter earnings. Those results were originally due in November, but the company’s auditor has refused to sign off on them until Petrobras settles on a write down.

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Shares of PBR fell last week when, after two months of delays, the company released still-unaudited Q3 results; auditors have demanded that writedowns attributable to the corruption scandal be included. Das Gracas Foster will stay in place until the finalized results are released, now expected in March.