Gasoline and diesel lag put pressure on domestic prices again, says Abicom

After a few weeks of relief, which allowed Petrobras to reduce the price of its main fuels before the first round of the presidential elections, oil and oil products rose again on the international market, and may take on even greater proportions depending on the outcome of the meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) this Wednesday (5th).

According to the president of the Brazilian Association of Fuel Importers (Abicom), Sérgio Araújo, if OPEC decides on a new cut, it will be difficult to hold domestic prices, despite the proximity of the second round of elections.

“If the cut is confirmed by OPEC, prices should continue to rise”, he evaluated this morning to Broadcast, Grupo Estado’s real-time news system.

According to a survey by the entity, the average lag in the price of diesel reached 3% and gasoline 8% on Tuesday (4).

To return to parity, prices should be raised by R$0.17 and R$0.28 per liter, respectively. The difference in the case of diesel, however, is much higher in the port of Aratu, in Bahia, whose lag reaches 5%.

At the port of Araucária, in Paraná, gasoline was traded at a value 12% below the international market.

The last adjustment for diesel by Petrobras took place two weeks ago, a drop of 4.07%, and for gasoline a little over a month ago, a reduction of 4.8%, and they follow a new rhythm of readjustments adopted by the current president. from Petrobras, Caio Paes de Andrade.

Appointed by President Jair Bolsonaro to mitigate the state-owned company’s price hike, after two administrations heavily criticized by the president (General Joaquim Silva e Luna and José Mauro Coelho) due to increases that impacted inflation, Paes de Andrade accelerated the pace of price declines. .

Since the end of June, when he took office, four reductions have been made in the price of gasoline and three of diesel, a fuel whose demand increases in the second half of the year.