Brazil’s Petrobras will discuss this week tweaking its mid-to-long-term strategic plan to potentially include a return to the retail fuel sector, amid complaints from the Brazilian president and the CEO of the state-owned oil and gas giant that wholesale fuel cuts don’t reach retail customers.
This week, Petrobras’s board of directors will meet to discuss amending the 2026-2030 plan that could include a renewed presence in the Brazilian retail fuel sector, an anonymous source with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg.
Petrobras sold its retail business in 2021 in a privatization drive under then-President Jair Bolsonaro. The retail fuel company Vibra Energia is now operating the previous retail business of the Brazilian state-held energy firm and uses its brand under a licensing agreement.
Incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Petrobras CEO Magda Chambriard have recently voiced concern that the wholesale price cuts by Petrobras aren’t being passed on to consumers at the pump.
Earlier this month, Lula da Silva complained about the high fuel prices and called for monitoring of said prices, including via direct action from consumer protection agencies, the oil and gas regulator, the Justice Ministry, and the federal police. The monitoring, Lula da Silva says, could ensure that the price cuts being announced by Petrobras actually reach the end consumer.
The president stated that “the consumer is the one paying the price” and said it was unacceptable that the decisions of the government and Petrobras are not being reflected at the pump.
Earlier this month, the country’s Attorney General’s office requested an investigation into anti-competitive practices in fuel pricing. The office has analyzed evidence that fuel distributors and resellers are not passing on to consumers the price reductions announced by refineries.
The evidence points to anti-competitive behavior in the pricing of gasoline, diesel, and LPG throughout the fuel supply chain, especially at the points of fuel distribution and resale, the Attorney General’s office said.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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