Reinhard Pichler, 49, has been Petrom's chief financial officer since 2004, when Romania's biggest company was privatised. Last year, although the business of the petroleum and gas producer fell and sales contracted, Petrom recorded a 34% increase in its net profit against 2008, almost 40% of which was generated by hedging operations, i. e. covering the risk of exposure to the volatility of the oil barrel price.
The idea to use these instruments was Pichler's, the implementation took around six months and involved a handful of people. The CFO of Petrom admits that, had his bet not worked, he would have been the first to leave the company.
"I have many friends in the United States who had told me in 2008 that the real estate bubble would burst soon. Nobody knew at that time how big the impact would be, but we knew this would happen (...)," Pichler explains.
After the oil barrel went from a record high of 147 dollars in July 2008 to less than 40 dollars towards the end of the year, Petrom decided to hedge half of the 2009 production against the price of oil. Later the decision was extended for this year, as well.
Reinhard Pichler, 49, has been Petrom's chief financial officer since 2004, when Romania's biggest company was privatised. Last year, although the business of the petroleum and gas producer fell and sales contracted, Petrom recorded a 34% increase in its net profit against 2008, almost 40% of which was generated by hedging operations, i. e. covering the risk of exposure to the volatility of the oil barrel price.
The idea to use these instruments was Pichler's, the implementation took around six months and involved a handful of people. The CFO of Petrom admits that, had his bet not worked, he would have been the first to leave the company.
"I have many friends in the United States who had told me in 2008 that the real estate b
