Energy tops agenda of Brazil’s leadership favourite

In a twist of fate she could hardly have foreseen, the woman who designed new regulations for Brazil’s pre-salt oilfields is the frontrunner for October’s presidential election, adding to the significance of what was already a hugely political issue.

Dilma Rousseff was mines and energy minister from January 2003-June 2005 and then chief minister to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva until March 2010, when she stepped down to run for the presidency.

In government she was chairman of Petrobras’ board and remained closely involved with energy policy even after leaving the energy ministry.

Many say that her political instincts are reflected in the design of the regulations – where the state will have a much greater role than before, at the expense of free-market and private-sector interests – and in the handling of Petrobras’ capitalisation programme, where the state is also likely to emerge strengthened at the expense of private investors.

As a manager, she is credited with the ability to absorb the detail of complex issues without losing sight of the broader significance, and with a prodigious capacity for work. It is less clear what direction the government might take if, as polls suggest, she wins a commanding victory in October. What many see as statist instincts may be contained by a powerful dose of pragmatism.