A Brazilian Senate committee on Tuesday approved an invitation to Petrobras Chief Executive Joaquim Silva e Luna to explain the state-run oil company's dividend policy, amid surging oil prices.
The infrastructure committee also approved another request for a public hearing with oil industry experts.
"We have seen successive increases in fuel prices in the country, which contrast with the abundance of dividends paid. Especially in the face of recent events of international instability, one wonders what role Petrobras plans to play going forward," said Senator Jean Paul Prates, a member of the Workers Party.
There is still no date for the hearings, but senators insisted that Luna speak separately from the others.
(Reuters - Reporting by Maria Carolina Marcello; Writing by Peter Frontini; editing by Jonathan Oatis)