Who is Roberto Castello Branco, the next Petrobras CEO?

Just last week, information from Jair Bolsonaro’s transition team suggested Ivan Monteiro, the current Petrobras CEO, would keep his job in the future administration. That scenario is no more, as the office of Paulo Guedes, the future economic tsar, confirmed a new name to head Brazil’s state-run oil and gas company: Roberto Castello Branco, an economist with previous stints at mining company Vale and as director of the Central Bank.

The nomination is a win for Mr. Guedes, as military advisors wanted one of their own for the position. Also, it could indicate that he’ll have the future president’s ear heading into the inauguration. The “super minister” and the future Petrobras CEO go way back, being close since the 1980s, when Mr. Castello Branco was a professor in a business school founded by Mr. Guedes.

Mr. Castello Branco will be the third “Chicago Boy” in the upper echelon of the Bolsonaro administration, joining Mr. Guedes himself and Joaquim Levy, who will take over the National Development Bank (BNDES). The future Petrobras CEO has a post-doctorate...