A queda do Batista e Petrobras

Brazil's Pre-Crisis Oil Hype Ruined Ex-Billionaire Eike Batista

It doesn’t seem that long ago. Yet, more than seven years have passed since Brazil’s deep sea oil discoveries turned the country into a black gold mine. Petrobras found pre-salt level oil in the Altantic Ocean in 2007.  A year later, cowboy entrepreneur Eike Batista built the country’s first privately held oil exploration and production company. OGX Petroleo immediately launched an IPO. A record breaking $4.1 billion flooded into the stock, a first for a Brazilian company.  If he had a wise advisor warning him not to drink the oil spiked Kool-Aid, Batista surely did not listen. He bathed in it, drank it, and did it again the next morning. The hype surrounding Brazil as new global oil town captured Batista’s imagination if not his ego. He believed the hype like a pre-schooler believed in flying reindeer.
As all adults eventually learn: fantasies are thrilling, but reality is a kick in the head.
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