Petrobras reduces the price of cooking gas by 5.3% in refineries

Petrobras announced this Wednesday (16) a 5.3% reduction in the average price of LPG (liquefied petroleum gas), known as cooking gas. The cut takes effect at the company’s refineries this Thursday (17).

With the measure, the average sale price for distributors goes from R$ 3.7842 per kilo to R$ 3.5842 per kilo. Thus, the value of a 13-kilogram cylinder will be R$ 46.59, an average reduction of R$ 2.60, according to Petrobras.

In a note published on its website, the company stated that the decision “follows the evolution of reference prices and is consistent with Petrobras’ pricing practice”. This practice, he says, “seeks balance with the market, but without transferring the situational volatility of quotations and the exchange rate to domestic prices”.

Last week, a 13-kilogram cylinder cost R$ 110.42, on average, for the Brazilian consumer, according to a survey by the ANP (National Agency for Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels). The value was 0.5% higher than the previous week (R$ 109.86).

A year ago, in mid-November 2021, the canister was in the range of R$ 102, also according to the ANP.

The cost of cooking gas hit low-income families in full during the pandemic, as the product weighs more on the budget of the poorest. With pressure on their pockets, some Brazilians began to prepare meals with firewood and even alcohol.

Beneficiaries of Auxílio Brasil can receive Vale-Gás every two months, as long as they meet the criteria of the program. To define the value of the benefit, the government considers the average price of the 13-kilogram cylinder to the consumer in the previous semester.

According to Petrobras, the cut announced this Wednesday is the first since September 23, before the presidential elections, when LPG dropped by 6% in refineries.

The reduction in fuel prices was used as ammunition by President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) during the electoral race.

However, amid the dispute for votes with Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), oil gained strength in the international market. The increase in quotations halted the sequence of write-offs in Petrobras fuels.

The state, however, avoided raising the prices of products such as gasoline and diesel oil, which resulted in a lag in relation to the international market.

At the opening of the market this Wednesday, gasoline was 3% below (or R$ 0.10) the import parity at Petrobras poles, according to calculations by Abicom (Brazilian Association of Fuel Importers). In diesel, the gap was greater, 6% (or R$ 0.32), in the poles of the state-owned company.

With Reuters