After Petrobras announced a new reduction in the price of gasoline, President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) said again this Monday (15) that “soon” we will have one of the cheapest in the world.
“It is the third reduction announced in recent weeks. Soon we will have one of the cheapest ‘gasoline’ in the world,” he said on Twitter.
The same promise has already been made on at least two occasions: in a speech, in Bahia, on July 2; and on social media, on July 19.
The company said that, as of Tuesday (16), it will make a 4.8% cut in the price of gasoline at refineries. This is the third reduction in less than a month, following the drop in international oil prices.
With the change, fuel will cost, on average, R$ 3.53 per liter. The drop is R$ 0.18 per liter in relation to the average price practiced until this Monday.
Considering that the gasoline sold at stations contains 27% ethanol, the state-owned company estimates a transfer of R$ 0.13 per liter to the final price of the fuel, which has been on a downward trajectory since the end of June, when Congress approved cuts of federal and state taxes.
The drop in fuel prices is one of the main bets of the president’s campaign, who seeks to be reelected in October.
The reduction in gasoline occurs on the same day that the electoral campaign officially begins. Bolsonaro will travel to Juiz de Fora (MG), the same place where he was stabbed in 2018.
Since the end of June, Brazilian market prices have been above the import parity calculated by Abicom (Brazilian Association of Fuel Importers), even with the two cuts announced by the state-owned company in July.
The oil retreat was used by the company to also justify two cuts in the price of diesel in August. This product had been less impacted by the tax cuts, as it already had rates below the cap set by Congress in most states.
According to data from Abicom, the average price of diesel in Brazilian refineries opened the market this Monday by R$ 0.23 per liter above the import parity.
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