Brazil’s Petrobras Lowers Fuel Prices Even As Oil Rises Internationally, Energy News, ET EnergyWorld

RIO DE JANEIRO: The Brazilian Petrobras will cut diesel and gasoline prices in refineries by about 2 percent on Saturday, the state oil company announced on Friday. This was the first fuel price adjustment since Joaquim Silva e Luna took office.

The former army general replaced Roberto Castello Branco as the company’s top manager in early April after the government apparently disagreed with the company’s fuel pricing policy.

The cut even came after some experts pointed to indications of further price pressure from rising international oil prices.

In a statement on Friday, broker Ativa Investimentos announced that its model shows a potential 13 percent increase in gasoline prices.

However, Petrobras said average diesel prices would drop 6 cents per liter to 2.71 reais while gasoline prices would drop 5 cents per liter to 2.59 reais.

After landing the top job at Petrobras, Luna said he would try to avoid volatility in the domestic fuel market without “disregarding” international price parity.

When asked about Ativa’s forecast on Friday, Petrobras declined to comment, but said that its prices “seek equilibrium with the international market and follow fluctuations in the price of products and the exchange rate“.

The Brazilian real was up around 4 percent against the US dollar last month.