A liter of gasoline can already be found for less than R$5 at stations in 13 states, according to a weekly price survey by the National Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANP) released last Friday (19).
In the national average, the fuel was sold at R$ 5.40 per liter, a drop of 1.8% compared to the previous week. It was the eighth consecutive week of decline, as a result of tax cuts approved by Congress at the end of June and price reductions at Petrobras refineries.
The ANP found a liter of gasoline for less than R$5 at stations in Amapá, Bahia, Goiás, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Pará, Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul, Rio de Janeiro, Santa Catarina and Sao Paulo.
The cheapest gasoline in the country was found in Jau (SP), at R$ 4.50 per liter. The municipality with the lowest average price of fuel last week was Guarapuava (PR), with R$ 4.79 per liter. The state with the lowest average price was Amapá, with R$ 4.97 per liter.
The trend is for prices to fall again this week, as a result of the 4.8% cut in the refinery price announced by Petrobras last Monday (15), whose transfer has not yet been fully captured by the ANP survey last week.
The drop in gasoline prices is celebrated by the government, which is trying to reverse damage to the image of President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) caused by the rise in fuel prices in the first half of the year.
With the tax cuts and, later, the drop in international oil prices, the prices of the main fuels have been falling for weeks at the pumps. Hydrous ethanol, for example, went back to costing less than R$ 4 per liter, on average, last week.
On the other hand, diesel, less affected by the tax cuts, fell 5% in August, under the effect of cuts promoted by Petrobras in its refineries. Last week, the product had an average price of R$ 7.05 per liter at Brazilian gas stations.
The president said last week he expected further cuts and again promised that Brazil will have one of the cheapest gasoline in the world. The cuts are expected by the market, as the price of oil continues to fall.
At the opening of the market on Monday (22), the average price of gasoline in Brazilian refineries was R$ 0.27 per liter above import parity, a concept used by Petrobras in its pricing policy. The liter of diesel was R$0.36 more expensive.
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