Maria das Gracas Silva Foster has worked for Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras almost all her career.
And now, after 32 years, she is set to take over the running of a company that is crucial to Brazil's economic development.
Petrobras, ranked 34th in the Fortune 500 list of companies, aims to become one of the world's biggest suppliers of oil, capitalising on the deep water reserves found off the Brazilian coast.
Graca Foster, as she is known, will be in charge of an investment budget for the next four years of some $225bn.
She was nominated for the post by Dilma Rousseff, Brazil's first female president.
The two began working together in 1998. When Ms Rousseff became mines and energy minister in 2003, she asked Ms Foster to be her secretary for oil, gas and renewable fuels.
"Her main challenge will be to balance political and technical decisions. A trademark of Gabrielli's administration was that many decisions were political, and this has caused Petrobras's shares to drop since 2010."
Source: Reuters
