Petroperú union push against ProInversión risks $2bn rescue
A union push to remove state agency ProInversión from Petroperú’s $2 billion restructuring risks triggering early bondholder repayments just weeks before a new Peruvian government takes office.
FENPETROL, the national federation of oil and energy workers, has called on the outgoing government and president-elect Keiko Fujimori to scrap emergency decrees that gave ProInversión control over Petroperú’s reorganisation. The union is demanding the state investment agency be stripped of its board seats and its mandate to arrange up to $2 billion in international financing.
Workers argue the six-month intervention has yielded no tangible results. FENPETROL general secretary Rafael Noblecilla credited the company's $208 million net profit and $395 million EBITDA in the first four months of 2026 to operational efficiency, cost control and favourable markets, rather than the agency's restructuring. However, some analysts caution that these early-year gains were flattered by delayed payments to suppliers.
The union frames the agency's involvement as a pathway to privatisation, warning it opens the door to asset sales, outsourcing and job cuts. ProInversión has countered with a blunt warning of its own: repealing the decrees would automatically cancel the attached $2 billion financing package. This rescue is structured through a special-purpose vehicle to avoid using public funds, but unwinding the scheme could trigger early repayment demands from existing bondholders, severely straining the indebted company.
The financial dispute unfolds against a backdrop of acute operational and structural stress. Petroperú carries billions of dollars in debt and has lost significant national fuel market share over the past decade. It is also currently running its flagship Talara refinery at reduced capacity due to an inability to secure enough crude. Leadership instability has compounded these issues, with the company cycling through a string of chief executives in recent years.
This clash lands two weeks before Fujimori’s administration assumes office on July 28. Her incoming government has signalled plans to shrink Petroperú further, setting up a direct conflict with the unions. For foreign investors, the central question is whether political and legal pressure will disrupt a market-friendly restructuring designed to stabilise the company without taxpayer bailouts. Court challenges from the workers and the ombudsman are already underway, with a union hearing set for early October.
