BRASILIA, April 8 (Reuters) - President Luiz Inacio Lula

da Silva canceled a meeting on Sunday evening with members of

his cabinet that could have decided on whether to replace the

chief executive of Brazil's state-run oil firm Petrobras

, two sources told Reuters.

On Sunday, Reuters reported that the ministers of Finance

and of Mines and Energy, Fernando Haddad and Alexandre Silveira,

along with Lula's chief of staff, Rui Costa, had been summoned

to the meeting at the presidential residence, the Alvorada

Palace.

The meeting would have taken place after a week of

speculation that Petrobras CEO Jean Paul Prates would be

replaced. On Thursday, government sources said the resignation

of the Petrobras chief executive was likely in the coming days.

But Lula decided to cancel the meeting as he was

bothered with it being leaked to the press, one of the sources

said. He is now expected to meet Haddad on Monday at 6pm local

time (2100 GMT), according to his agenda.

A source told Reuters on Sunday that Prates would not last

as Petrobras CEO "to the end of the week."

Prates has been under fire from parts of the government that

want to see him bring down fuel prices and ramp up job-creating

investments. Last month, he clashed with cabinet members over a

Petrobras dividend withheld from investors.

The president of Brazil's National Development Bank (BNDES),

Aloizio Mercadante, a close aide to Lula, has been named as a

possible candidate to take over from Prates.

Uncertainty about the future of Petrobras has brought

volatility to the company's share prices in recent sessions.

(Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu and Anthony Boadle; Editing

by Diane Craft and Devika Syamnath)