RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Brazil's far-rightpresidential front-runner Jair Bolsonaro could revise thecountry's model of production-sharing contracts in its covetedpre-salt oil fields if he wins this month's election, newspaperValor reported on Monday.
The poll leader ahead of the Oct. 28 run-off vote could alsoend overseas financing by state development bank BNDES, Valor reported, citing unnamed campaign sources, asBolsonaro looks to overhaul the country's state-run entities.
A longstanding advocate of state control over key strategicassets like government-run Petroleo Brasileiro SA andCentrais Eletricas Brasileiras SA, Bolsonaro hasrecently changed tack, falling more closely in line with keyadvisors who favor privatizing assets.
But a rival camp of advisors, made up of military generals,have urged Bolsonaro to maintain control of Petrobras and otherassets they consider strategic, Reuters reported last week,opening up a split that could disappoint investors who snappedup Petrobras shares in the wake of Bolsonaro's first-round win.
Bolsonaro's campaign did not immediately respond to arequest for comment.
Petrobras shares were up 2.2 percent in late morningtrading.
Brazil's production-sharing contract model for its pre-saltoil fields was rolled out by the leftist Workers Party, whichran Brazil for 13 of the last 15 years, and has been blamed bymany for a weak economy and endemic graft.
Reformed by the center-right government of Michel Temer, whotook office in 2016 after former President Dilma Rousseff wasimpeached, the production-sharing model has proved successful inrecent auctions, luring oil majors like Exxon Mobil CorpChevron Corp, Repsol SA, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, and BP Plc.
Higher oil prices and the need to replace shrinking reserveshave boosted oil majors' appetites for costlier offshoreventures, pumping much-needed money into Brazil's coffers.
The Valor article did not give details on how Bolsonarowould tweak the production-sharing model, but cited campaignsources who said the aim was to attack some of the politicalabuses perpetrated by previous administrations.
Under Rousseff, Brazil's government used the BNDES to offerloans to countries like Venezuela, Cuba and Mozambique that theywould use to contract Brazilian firms.
The Brazilian government, under Rousseff, had agreed to actas the guarantor of the loans. The funds were used by Venezuelaand Mozambique to pay works carried out by Brazilian firms.
In May, Brazil said it would continue to insist Venezuelaand Mozambique pay back nearly 1 billion reais ($281.05 million)in loans they defaulted on to BNDES and Switzerland's CreditSuisse.(Reporting by Gabriel StargardterEditing by Marguerita Choy)