DECEMBER 29, 2000

Petrobras to become PetroBrax

THE Brazilian state owned Brazilian oil giant Petrobras has decided to change its name to PetroBrax to support its plans for international expansion. The company is believed to be worried that too many people confuse Petrobras with Malaysia's Petronas and wants a new name and logo to differentiate the brand. Petrobras is a sponsor of the Williams team and the major supporter of the Formula 3000 Championship winning team. The brand change is expected to cost the company $50m but staff and politicians are arguing that the switch makes no sense as the new name is not greatly different from the old and are trying to get the decision reversed.

The decision whether or not to go ahead with the change will not be made until the company has completed an asset swap with rival Repsol-YPF which will strengthen Petrobras's position in Argentina. Under the deal Repsol will strengthen its position in Brazil and will be paid $1bn by the Brazilian company.

We will have to wait and see whether the Petrobras Junior Team becomes the PetroBrax Junior team next season.