Petrobras Halts ‘Irrational’ Asset Sales as It Mulls Braskem Bid

Petrobras is casting aside an “irrational” policy carried out by previous management of unloading assets to raise cash, and is pivoting to a new strategy that may include raising its stake in the petrochemical company Braskem SA.

That’s according to Jean Paul Prates, chief executive officer at Brazil’s state-controlled oil company who was appointed by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at the start of his term earlier this year.

“It was a really irrational way of selling things,” he said in an interview in Rio de Janeiro. Now, the company wants to approach things with “another plan, ...