Gasoline price drops 0.3% at pumps, says ANP

The average price of gasoline in the country dropped 0.3% this week, according to the ANP (National Agency for Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels). The move comes a week after the drop in the price of anhydrous ethanol, which represents 27% of the mixture sold at gas stations.

According to the agency, a liter of gasoline was sold, on average, at R$6,637 this week, or R$0.03 less than the value in force the previous week. Even so, the product accumulates a high of 0.6% since the last adjustment promoted by Petrobras, on January 11th.

The price of anhydrous ethanol at the plants in São Paulo had dropped 2.4% in the previous week, to R$3,734, according to Cepea (Center for Advanced Studies in Applied Economics) at Esalq/USP.

With the escalation of international oil prices, however, the market sees a great lag in the prices practiced by Petrobras and expects readjustments to align with the so-called import parity price, which simulates how much fuel imported into Brazil would cost.

As last week, the most expensive gasoline in the country was detected by the ANP in Angra dos Reis, on the south coast of Rio de Janeiro. But this time, the value was R$ 7,999, below the symbolic mark of R$ 8 per liter.

With the highest ICMS tax rate on gasoline in the country, at 35%, Rio also has the highest average price among Brazilian states, at R$7,315 per liter.

The ANP survey also detected a slight decline in the price of hydrous ethanol, which went from R$5.007 to R$4.938. In two weeks, the price of fuel at Brazilian stations has dropped 2.2%.

The CNG (vehicular natural gas), in turn, rose 1.1% in the week, to R$ 4.537 per cubic meter. In one month, the product accumulates a high of 2.3% at the stations. At the beginning of the year, Petrobras raised its natural gas sales price, but some states were able to obtain an injunction to suspend the increase.

In the other fuels surveyed by the agency, the picture is one of stability. Diesel was sold, on average, at R$5,588 per liter, against R$5,586 last week. The 13 kilo gas cylinder went from R$ 102.44 to R$ 102.27.

This Thursday (3), federal deputy Christino Áureo (PP-RJ) presented a project to allow the reduction of federal and state taxes on fuel, a proposal that had been negotiated by President Jair Bolsonaro.

The text, which was prepared by the Civil House, displeases the government’s economic team, which wanted to limit the subsidy to diesel oil to reduce the impacts on public accounts. The strategy of using a parliamentarian to present the proposal was a way to circumvent the Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes.

The rise in fuel prices is the main factor of inflationary pressure in the country and has wreaked havoc on the popularity of the president, who is looking for alternatives to reduce the weight of the issue in the electoral campaign.