The Senate Infrastructure Services Commission approved this Tuesday (10) a request for an invitation to the new president of Petrobras, José Mauro Ferreira Coelho, for a hearing on natural gas pricing policy.
There is still no date for the hearing, but the members of the collegiate intend to unify this event with a hearing scheduled in another Senate committee to discuss the distribution of dividends by the company and fuel prices.
At the end of March, CAE members had approved an invitation to the company’s then president, General Joaquim Silva e Luna, to explain the distribution of BRL 100 billion in dividends to Petrobras shareholders in return for the 2021 results.
In this Tuesday’s session, the senators approved the request that foresees the invitation to the new president of the company and also to the president of Cade (Administrative Council of Economic Law), Alexandre Cordeiro Macedo, and the director general of the ANP (National Petroleum), Rodolfo Henrique de Saboia.
“This policy of distribution, supply and price of natural gas, which Petrobras established the adjustment to effectively 50%, or US$ 12 per million BTU for contracts from January 1, 2022, directly impacts society and appears to greatly exceed the legal obligation of economic-financial balance of the contracts, as well as raises questions from civil society in fair caution, with the Brazilian people being the majority shareholder of the company”, states the text of the request, authored by the minority leader , Jean Paul Prates (PT-RN).
Senator Esperidião Amin (PP-SC) questioned the new dividend distribution values, criticizing that part of these resources is given by the sale of refineries.
“You sell a factory, a plant, with the commitment to build a new one, more modern, better located, perhaps. No! You distribute this in the form of dividends”, he said.
Last week, the company released its first-quarter results. Boosted by the rise in oil prices after the start of the Ukrainian War, Petrobras ended the period with a profit of R$ 44.5 billion. The result is the third best ever recorded by a publicly held company in Brazil.
The state-owned company’s high profits are criticized by the opposition and the government itself, given the rise in fuel prices in the country. After the disclosure, President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) classified the result as “rape” and asked the company not to promote further readjustments.
Criticism of Petrobras’ profits is shared by several parliamentarians, among them the president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG).
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