In one of the first actions of the new management in the Executive, headed by José Jerí, he stepped down from the position of president of Petroperu to the questioned Alejandro Narváez and from the general management to Oscar Vera. Both, part of the circle of former president Dina Boluarte, arrived at those positions in November of last year with a speech in which they minimized the company’s crisis and assured that that same year they would close in blue. The reality was different from what they projected.
Although Narváez wanted to blame the company’s problems on third parties, such as the reference interest rate of the Central Reserve Bank (BCR), and even wanted to compare himself with the president of said entity, Julio Velarde, the truth is that his management did not contribute to reversing the negative results of the oil company. Thus, in the first half of this year, the public company recorded a net loss of more than US$278 million, that is, around US$1.5 million per day.
Although they wanted to justify the result of the first six months by comparing it with the US$774 million losses in 2024, the former Finance Manager of the public company Fernando de la Torre explained that last year technical difficulties were observed in the flexicoking plant of the Talara refinery, which harmed operations, so the results could not be compared with 2025.
“There is a reduction in operating expenses, but it is less than the 30% that was established in Emergency Decree 013-2024 (which provides measures for the restructuring of Petroperú). Narváez said that the losses could have been higher according to internal projections and if he did not intervene, but who knows those projections,” he added.
Another problem that the now former president of Petroperú leaves behind, according to De la Torre, is a negative working capital of US$2.3 billion. “Mr. Narváez is leaving, leaving the company technically bankrupt,” he added.
The expert also questioned the delay in the sale of assets and that the building located in San Isidro (Lima) has not been put on the market.
It should also be noted that, according to information from the Peruvian Institute of Economics (IPE), the oil company’s financial debt in the short, medium and long term amounts to US$5,563 million, according to data from the second quarter of the year.
DELAYS
For his part, the former director of Petroperú David Tuesta pointed out that during Narváez’s management the necessary changes were not made to solve the company’s problems and the schedule established by the aforementioned emergency decree was not met.
“The schedule indicated that in January 2025 the boss should be there to transform the company, and so far there is nothing. The first non-productive assets should also have already been sold, but it seems that within the company they do not want to get rid of that,” he assured this newspaper.
In that sense, he considered that, to try to save the company, it is necessary to provide signals that they really want to make changes, such as, for example, putting buildings for sale that are not necessary for the development of the company.
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