Petrobras reduces the price of cooking gas by 5.6%

Petrobras will reduce the price of cooking gas at its refineries by 5.6% starting this Saturday (8). According to the state-owned company, the decision was taken after the perception that international quotations and the exchange rate “stabilized at a lower level” for the product.

The price of fuel had been raised by the company by 16.1% on March 11, leading the 13-kilogram cylinder to reach the highest values ​​in history, being found for up to R$ 160. Last week, the product it was sold, on average, at R$ 113.63.

With the cut announced this Friday, the amount charged by Petrobras for the kilo of cooking gas will drop from R$ 4.48 to R$ 4.23. To fill a cylinder, therefore, distributors will pay R$ 54.94, or R$ 3.27 less than the current value.

The reduction was expected by the market, given the appreciation of the real against the dollar in recent weeks and the fall in international prices for the product, which usually has higher prices during the winter in the northern hemisphere.

The sector had been showing concern about the effect of the current high prices on the sales of cylinders, which started the year in decline, even with the approval of a subsidy to low income known as Vale-Gás.

The rise in prices after the most critical period of the pandemic and the loss of purchasing power of the population have led many low-income families to have to look for more dangerous and polluting alternatives for cooking, such as alcohol or firewood.

In one year, between April 2021 and April 2022, the price of cooking gas at Petrobras refineries has a cumulative increase of 38.47%.

The state-owned company did not say whether it plans to change gasoline and diesel prices, which also saw mega-increases in March, by 18.8% and 24.9%, respectively. In these cases, too, the pass-throughs drove pump prices to all-time highs.

With the appreciation of the real and the fall in oil prices, the average price of gasoline in Brazilian refineries came to be R$ 0.09 per liter above the import parity this Thursday (8). The dollar, however, rose again and this Friday prices are in line.

The cut in the price of cooking gas comes after a troubled week at Petrobras, which saw two of the names nominated by the government for its command, Adriano Pires and Rodolfo Landim, give up their positions after questions about conflicts of interest.

This Tuesday (6th), the government announced that the former secretary of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels of the MME (Ministry of Mines and Energy), José Mauro Coelho, to preside over the company. For the command of the council, consultant Márcio Weber, a former employee of the state-owned company, was appointed.

In interviews, Coelho defended the policy of aligning fuel prices to the international market, claiming that artificial prices can cause shortages in the country.