While Petrobras holds down gasoline and diesel prices amid soaring international oil prices, consumers in Bahia are the first in the country to feel the impacts of Ukraine’s war on fuel in their pockets.
The state is supplied by the first large privatized refinery in the country, the Mataripe Refinery, which this Saturday (5th) readjusted its prices to accompany the rise in oil, which is traded this Monday (7th) at values ​​close to the record set in 2008.
The price of diesel oil sold by the refinery rose by up to 25%, depending on the delivery location. The price of gasoline rose by up to 19%, also varying according to the place of delivery.
Both in the capital of Bahia and in the metropolitan region of Salvador, consumers were taken by surprise with the increase, which generated complaints even from the gas station owners’ union.
The report visited five gas stations in Salvador and Lauro de Freitas, a city where the price of regular gasoline ranged from R$7.89 to R$7.99. Additive gasoline, on the other hand, fluctuated from R$8.09 to R$8.29.
A resident of Lauro de Freitas, in the metropolitan region of Salvador, public relations officer Davi Matos, 38, said he was surprised by the readjustment of regular gasoline, whose liter cost, on average, R$ 6.99, until Friday (4).
“The way things are, with inflation driven by high fuel prices, it is difficult to drive a car, which is a necessity”, he complained.
The operation of the Mataripe Refinery, which is the second largest in the country, was transferred in December to Acelen, a company of the Arab Mubadala fund that bought the Petrobras asset for US$ 1.65 billion (R$ 8.3 billion at the current price). ).
In a statement published on its website, the company says that “the prices of the products produced by the Mataripe Refinery follow market criteria that take into account variables such as the cost of oil, which is purchased at international prices, dollars and freight.”
“In the last ten days, with the worsening of the crisis generated by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the international price of a barrel of oil soared, exceeding US$ 115 per barrel, which had a direct impact on production costs”, he continues.
After the readjustments, the prices of gasoline and diesel sold at the closest delivery point to the Mataripe Refinery, in São Francisco do Conde (BA), are 23% above the most expensive amount charged by Petrobras for delivery to one of its refineries. , in Betim (MG).
In the year, Acelen has already promoted four readjustments in the prices of gasoline and diesel, against only one of Petrobras. The scenario has been used by unions and opposition as an argument against the sale of state-owned refineries.
The Bahia Fuel Trade Union accuses Acelen of not practicing the ICMS freeze determined by the state.
As calculated by the entity, gasoline A rose by R$0.6226 and ICMS increased by R$0.2921; diesel S10 fluctuated R$ 0.8720 and the ICMS on biodiesel S10, R$ 0.2366; S500 diesel, on the other hand, increased by R$0.9186 compared to R$0.2454 in ICMS for S500 biodiesel.
Because of the readjustments, on Friday, the union filed a representation against Acelen in Cade (Administrative Council for Economic Defense), alleging abuse of economic power.
“Acelen has been practicing, in Bahia, prices substantially higher than those it practices for sale to other states, such as Alagoas, Maranhão and even Amazonas”, said, in a note, the president of the union, Walter Tannus Freitas.
In a note, Acelen says that it awaits a response to the letter sent to the Secretary of Finance of Bahia (Sefaz-BA) asking for clarification on the application of the ICMS freeze charged for tax substitution.
“To avoid underpayment and also mitigate impacts on prices applied, Acelen is in contact with its customers offering support for decision of the exceptional application model until the final result of Sefaz”, says the company.
Fuel prices have been free in the country since 2002 and the implementation of a policy to monitor the international market by Petrobras was fundamental to attract interested parties in its refineries.
With the rise in fuel prices since 2021, however, the import parity policy has been gaining critics, among them President Jair Bolsonaro (PL), who defended this Monday a review of the current model, implemented in the Michel Temer government.
“There’s a wrong legislation made back there that you have parity with the international price [dos combustÃveis]. In other words, oil —what is taken from oil— takes into account the price outside Brazil. This cannot continue to happen”, said the president, during an interview with a radio station in Roraima.
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’s not admissible,” he said. “The population cannot stand a high with this percentage here in Brazil”.
Petrobras has repeated that it will observe the scenario before deciding to pass on the rise in international quotations, but the lag in its prices had already reached the highest levels in a decade last week.
Before the opening of the market this Monday, the lag in the prices of gasoline and diesel were 26% and 30%, respectively, according to an estimate by Abicom (Brazilian Association of Fuel Importers).
According to Reuters, there is now pressure from the company on the government to authorize some price readjustment, while BrasÃlia is debating measures to mitigate the effects of consumer increases.
On the afternoon of this Monday, for example, technicians from the Ministries of Mines and Energy and the Economy meet to discuss alternatives. One of the proposals on the table would be the implementation of a subsidy program similar to the one adopted by the Temer government during the 2018 truck drivers strike.
The idea was well received by both importers and financial market analysts who follow Petrobras.
“A fuel subsidy program (if approved) would remove, at least in the short term, the risk of disrupting the company’s profitability,” wrote analysts Bruno Amorim and João Frizo of Goldman Sachs.
In the note published on its website, the company also says that it “reaffirms its commitment to a transparent policy, supported by technical criteria, in line with international market practices”.
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