10 February 2014, News Wires – Petrobras chief executive Maria das Gracas Foster has once again topped Fortune’s global list of the world’s most powerful women, one of a handful of female oil and gas executives to make the ranking.
Gracas Foster, 60, oversees the development of the country’s huge pre-salt oil reserves and the Brazilian state company’s $237 billion spending programme.
She has been widely credited with bringing a more technocratic approach to the post and setting realistic goals for the company, also placing first in the global listing for thesecond year in a row since her appointment in 2012.
Brazil also has a female president, Dilma Rousseff, and chief oil regulator, Magda Chambriard.
Fortune reviews top contenders given the “size and importance of the woman’s business in the global economy, the health and direction of the business, the arc of the woman’s career and social and cultural influence.”
Coming in behind Gracas Foster at No 6 on the global list is Karen Agustiawan, 54, chief of Indonesia state oil company Pertamina.
“Indonesia’s $70-billion-in-revenue state oil and gas conglomerate recently renewed Agustiawan’s contract, validating her leadership and earning her a spot at No 6 on this year’s list, but from 19 a year ago,” Fortune wrote.
“She is also the first female CEO to run this Fortune Global 500 company, which beat its 2012 earnings target, with net profits up 15% to $2.7 billion—the highest profits in the company’s 45-year history.”
Mariana Gheorghe, 57, chief executive of OMV’s Romanian oil unit OMV Petrom, ranked No 27 up from 32 in 2012.
Shell global exploration chief Ceri Michele Powell, 50, also made the list for the first time at No 29.
– Upstream
