Filling the car’s tank became R$30 more expensive in 2022, survey shows

In the first four months of the year, the price of regular gasoline rose approximately 10% for Brazilians.

The liter of fuel jumped from BRL 6,596 to BRL 7,283 in the period between January 2 and April 30, according to data from the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP), compiled by the CNN .

In practice, the result shows that, currently, filling the car’s tank in Brazil is R$30 more expensive, when compared to the beginning of 2022.

Analyzing a period of 12 months, the value more than triples: an additional R$ 100 to fill up the car, at each stop at the gas station.

The calculation made by CNN considered a popular car, which holds 40 liters of gasoline.

The researcher at Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV) Joelson Sampaio explains that the increase in the cost of ordinary gasoline, in the short term, is related to the impacts of the war in Eastern Europe, between Ukraine and Russia.

Referring to the last 12 months, the economist points to the Covid-19 pandemic and inflationary pressure as the main “villains” of the rise in fuel.

“The cost of oil has increased since the beginning of the pandemic, due to the global supply shock. This caused the commodity’s price to explode, harming the economy of all countries, especially those most dependent on the input, such as Brazil,” explained Sampaio.

“And recently, when the pandemic cooled down, we had another very significant increase, caused by the war in Europe. Russia, which is part of the confrontation, is one of the biggest oil distributors in the world, and the country has suffered a lot of sanctions in recent weeks. This again generates a supply shock.”

The FGV economist also related the amount needed to fill the car’s tank with the minimum wage.

“For those who depend on the car daily for transportation, it weighs heavily on the monthly budget. A full tank represents almost a quarter of the minimum wage today. And besides all that, in parallel with the high that has already taken place, we continue with very high inflation and the war going on in Europe”, concluded Joelson Sampaio.

THE CNN also spoke with Ibmec economist Christiano Arrigoni.

He explains that the high costs of gasoline are related to the international parity of oil, with the leveling of the price of the input in Brazil with the commodity abroad.

“I think the bulk of this increase is explained by the increase in the international price of oil and Petrobras’ international parity policy, which suffers from the volatility of the dollar. Crossing the data, we can see this trend”, points out Arrigoni.