Longer lag for gasoline and diesel pressures new Petrobras command

The recovery in international fuel prices and the rise in the dollar led to a lag in the price of Brazilian diesel to levels prior to the mega-increase promoted by Petrobras in March. Gasoline is also at a high lag.

The scenario puts pressure on the new president of Petrobras, José Mauro Coelho, who took over last week defending the company’s commercial policy, at a time when the price of gasoline is reaching record levels at stations.

According to Abicom (Brazilian Association of Fuel Importers), the average price of diesel in Brazilian refineries is currently R$ 1.49 below import parity, a concept that simulates the cost of bringing the product from abroad.

It is the biggest difference since the BRL 2.54 on March 9, two days before the mega-increase of 24.9% promoted by Petrobras in response to the rise in international prices after the start of the war in Ukraine.

After the readjustment, the domestic price spent a period in line with international quotations, becoming a few days more expensive. But with the dollar on the rise and diesel more expensive abroad, says Abicom, the picture would demand new adjustments.

In the case of gasoline, the average lag today is R$ 0.32 per liter. It is the highest value since April 18, when it was R$ 0.34 per liter. Also in this case, the mega-increase of 18.8% in March kept prices in line with the international market for a while, with detachment in recent weeks.

“To be coherent with the speech, Petrobras needs to announce an increase. At least for diesel”, defends the president of Abicom, Sérgio Araújo. According to the entity, there is currently no feasibility of importation by private companies.

The state-owned company has been repeating that it maintains the policy of following international parity, but does not pass on market volatilities to domestic consumers.

The main reference for calculating the import parity price, the United States normally experiences price increases at this time of year, when the fuel market begins to prepare to meet the high consumption during the summer holidays.

Last week, the average price of gasoline at US stations broke a five-week streak and rose 1% to $4,107 a gallon, according to the Department of Energy’s information agency.

The average price of diesel at gas stations in the United States has been rising for three consecutive weeks. Last week, the product cost, on average, US$ 5.16 (about R$ 26) per gallon.

In Brazil, for 48 days without readjustments at refineries, gasoline also rose again at stations recently, following the rise in the price of anhydrous ethanol, which represents 27% of the mixture sold at stations.

According to the latest price survey by the ANP (Agência Nacional do Petróleo, Gás e Biocombustíveis), the average price of fuel reached R$5,270 last week, the highest value since the agency began to survey prices weekly in 2004.