Gasoline and diesel in Brazil are R$ 0.89 below international prices, says entity

The prices of gasoline and diesel in Brazilian refineries are today R$ 0.89 below international quotations, according to the lag indicator released this Thursday (9) by Abicom (Brazilian Association of Fuel Importers).

This means that the fuel is cheaper in the country than abroad, which makes import operations unfeasible, according to the entity.

A day earlier, on Wednesday (8), the diesel lag reached the highest level (R$ 0.92) since the last adjustment promoted by Petrobras in the prices of this fuel, in May this year. In relation to gasoline, the value of this Thursday is still below the one verified last Monday (R$ 0.95). The last fuel adjustment was in March.

“With the rise in the exchange rate and in the reference prices of diesel and gasoline in the international market (…), the lag scenarios for both gasoline and oil have moved far away from parity, which makes operations unfeasible. import”, says Abicom.

The import parity price is calculated using as a reference the values ​​for gasoline, diesel oil, foreign exchange and sea freight at market opening.

The feasibility of imports is one of the arguments used by Petrobras management and the fuel sector in defense of prices in line with international quotations. They allege that private importers fail to act with high lags, which creates supply risks.

The increase in fuel prices is one of the main concerns of President Jair Bolsonaro (PL), who is in second place in the electoral polls.

Petrobras’ readjustments have already overthrown three presidents of the state-owned company and a minister of Mines and Energy in the current government.

According to a survey by the ANP (National Agency for Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels), last week gasoline was sold by Brazilian stations at an average price of R$ 7,218 per litre, a decrease of 0.4% compared to the previous week.

Government and Congress are trying to approve a package of measures to relieve these and other prices.