The director of Commercialization and Logistics at Petrobras, Cláudio Mastella, said this Friday (29) that he does not expect a drop in the price of diesel until the end of the year, given the scenario of problems in supply and proximity to winter in the Northern Hemisphere.
In recent weeks, the company has twice reduced the price of gasoline, which was already being heavily impacted by tax cuts passed by Congress. Diesel, on the other hand, already had zero federal taxes and ICMS (state tax) below the established ceiling and did not drop at the pumps.
“We see a scenario of maintaining the prices of derivatives similar to the current ones, especially in the case of diesel, which has an impact of the approach of winter in the northern hemisphere”, said the executive, in a conference call with analysts to detail the balance of the second quarter. .
“The expectation is that diesel will remain in this scenario or even stronger, unless the expectation of a major global recession is confirmed,” he added, noting that demand for the product remains heated and there are supply problems after the start of the war in Ukraine.
Diesel is a problem for the government’s effort to lower fuel prices on the eve of elections. Since passing the tax cuts in Congress, the average price of fuel has dropped just 1.2% at the pumps, compared to a 20.3% drop in the price of gasoline.
With no possibility of further reducing taxes, the government would only rely on eventual price cuts at Petrobras. On another front, Congress approved the distribution of aid to truck drivers.
Mastella said that Petrobras today sees less risk of diesel shortages in the country, but the scenario is still cautious due to increased demand from countries in the Northern Hemisphere, lower supply from Russia, planned stoppages in refineries and risks with the hurricanes in the United States.
“Today, in particular, there is no difficulty in acquiring diesel from the usual suppliers”, said the Executive. The company has been anticipating purchases to increase its inventories and seeks to operate its refineries at high levels to produce more fuel.
Mastella stated that the new guideline for the company’s pricing policy, approved earlier this week, does not change the search for parity with international product quotations. On the contrary, he stated, it gives the council the mandate to enforce compliance with this policy.
“The council now has the attribution of collection of results. The focus is clearer, more robust, for the benefit of the company,” he said.
In the second quarter of 2022, Petrobras recorded a profit of R$54.3 billion, the second highest in its history. As a result, the company approved the distribution of R$ 87.8 billion in dividends, a record.
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