Faced with the soaring price of oil, President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) said this Monday (7) that the government is studying a review of Petrobras’ international price parity policy.
“There’s a wrong legislation made back there that you have parity with the international price [dos combustíveis]. In other words, oil —what is taken from oil— takes into account the price outside Brazil. This cannot continue to happen,” Bolsonaro said during an interview with a radio station in Roraima.
“We are seeing it there, without any shocks in the market. It is being dealt with this afternoon, in another meeting”.
The so-called PPI (Import Parity Price) was implemented in 2016, during the Michel Temer government (MDB) and during the management of former Petrobras president Pedro Parente.
The president mentioned that authorities from the Ministries of Economy and the Ministry of Mines and Energy, in addition to Petrobras itself, should participate in this Monday’s discussion on the subject.
“Laws made wrongly back then linked the price of a barrel produced here to the price abroad, this is the big problem. We are going to look for a solution to this in a very responsible way”, added the president.
He also said that, if the advance in the international price of fuel were fully passed on to the gas stations, there would be a readjustment of about 50% for consumers. “It is not admissible,” Bolsonaro said.
“The population cannot stand a high with this percentage here in Brazil”.
This Monday, a possible Western embargo on the Russian energy sector caused oil and natural gas prices to soar, as well as the fall of stock markets around the world for fear of a slowdown in the world economy.
The price of a barrel of North Sea Brent approached USD 140 (R$ 710) on Sunday night, very close to the all-time record USD 147.50 (R$ 748) of July 2008.
This came after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington and its allies were debating a ban on Russian oil and gas imports.
The Americans and allies have imposed a series of economic sanctions against Moscow for the invasion of Ukraine.
Criticism of the price parity policy is not the only measure that has been defended by Bolsonaro in recent days.
On Thursday (3), the president defended that Petrobras reduce profits to avoid a sudden increase in fuels.
“We are seeing here in the media — and it is true — the profit that Petrobras is making. In a moment of crisis like this, I think that this profit, depending on the decision of the directors, the board and the president, could in this moment of crisis be lowered a little so we don’t suffer too much here,” Bolsonaro said at the time.
(with AFP)
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