Gasoline price rises 46%, and ethanol, 56% in 2021, says Ticket Log

A survey carried out by Ticket Log points out that the price of gasoline closed 2021 with an increase of 46.7% at Brazilian service stations. In December, however, there was a drop of 0.52%, reflecting a reduction in refinery prices promoted by Petrobras and by Acelen, which owns the largest private Brazilian refinery.

According to Ticket Log, the average price of gasoline in December was BRL 6,890 per liter, against BRL 4,696 in the same month in 2020. In November, before the reduction in refineries, the fuel was sold at stations, on average, at R$6,926 per liter.

The increase is much higher than the inflation for the period: in December, the IPCA-15, preview of the official inflation, accumulated an increase of 10.42%% in 12 months, the highest index in six years. The rise in fuel prices was one of the main drivers of the rise in the indicator.

According to Ticket Log data, the price of hydrated ethanol rose 56.5% at service stations in 2021, reaching an average of R$ 5.779 per liter in December. As with gasoline, the price of biofuel dropped compared to November, down 1.26%.

The head of the Urban Market area at Edenred Brasil, Douglas Pina, says that the research result indicates a trend towards stability in the rhythm of rising prices. “However, the averages are still high and the value of gasoline and ethanol still weighs heavily on the pockets of Brazilian drivers,” he said.

The rise in prices accompanied the recovery in international oil prices after restrictions on the movement of people at the beginning of the pandemic and the devaluation of the real against the dollar amid institutional crises in the country.

It wreaked havoc on the image of President Jair Bolsonaro (PL), who at first tried to put the responsibility on the states and then started talking about privatizing Petrobras, which led the CVM (Securities Commission) to open investigations into the company .

The average diesel price was practically stable in December in the monthly comparison, but ended the year with an increase of 46.1%. The average value at service stations reached R$ 5.612 per liter in December. In the same month last year, it was R$ 3.841 per liter.

This Wednesday (29), Petrobras announced punctual adjustments to diesel prices in the area of ​​influence of the oil pipeline that takes fuel to the region. It reduced by R$ 0.01 per liter the fuel delivered to the product delivery bases in Ribeirão Preto (SP), Uberaba (MG), Uberlândia (MG) and Brasília (DF).

And it reduced the price in Senador Canedo (GO) by R$ 0.008 per liter, the last delivery point for the pipeline connecting the Paulínia (SP) refinery, the largest in the country, to the Midwest region. The adjustments have no effect on the average sale price by the state-owned refineries.

In a statement, Petrobras said that the objective is “to increase the efficiency of operations and Petrobras’ competitiveness in a competitive environment”. According to specialists, these punctual adjustments are common and may be aimed at facing competition from a supplier.

In October, the ANP (National Oil, Gas and Biofuels Agency) authorized the operation of the SSOil refinery, a small unit located in Coroados, west of São Paulo, about 500 kilometers from the capital.

In a statement, Petrobras also said that it is expanding the alternatives for supplying fuel in the country by inaugurating a ship route to the port of Vila do Conde, in Pará. The first shipment should arrive in January.

The rise in fuel prices has wreaked havoc on the popularity of President Jair Bolsonaro (PL), who spent the year trying to ward off