At its peak in 2008, Petrobras was the world’s fifth-largest company worth $310 billion. Since then it has lost more than 90 percent of its value, and recent speculation about a debt-to-equity swap raises the spectre of more woes ahead for shareholders.
The market cap of Brazil’s oil giant stands at just $19 billion with its shares trading near $1 — and some analysts say the actual equity value is zero. With no easy solution to the highest debt load in the oil industry, speculation is mounting that the government will take steps to ensure debt payments at the expense of shareholders. It’s shares trade at just 0.21 times the company’s book value, the least among its oil industry peers, according to Bloomberg data.
Brazil Energy Insight 
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