Cade (Administrative Council for Economic Defense) may open an investigation this Wednesday (25) to determine whether Petrobras charges more for the oil it sells to the Landulpho Alves refinery, privatized at the end of 2021. it is in an order from the counselor Gustavo Augusto de Lima who is going to trial today.
The request needs to be approved by a majority of the board to become an administrative inquiry. Lima’s proposal is to carry out two investigations focusing on the refinery sold to the Mubadala fund, in the United Arab Emirates. In one, the refinery would be a victim as it pays more for oil than the units still under Petrobras’ control.
In the other, the refinery is investigated for charging more for the fuel sold in Bahia, a state where it is located and has a monopoly on supply, than in others where it has competition. When contacted, the companies did not respond so far.
SindicobustÃveis-BA (Sindicato do Comércio Retajista de Derivados de Petroleo da Bahia) filed a complaint with Cade in early March complaining about the increase in the price of fuel sold by the Bahian refinery after privatization. CADE’s SG (General Superintendence) did not agree with the argument and filed the request last Thursday (19).
Lima, however, disagreed with the SG and saw enough elements to open an administrative inquiry. In his request, he points out that the price charged in other states is cheaper, which goes against the grain of economic logic since the price for more distant locations should include a higher freight price.
The calculation is based on the price of the product without taxes to avoid the effects of the tax difference between each Federation Unit.
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