55% of Brazilians oppose privatization of Petrobras – PoderData poll June 19-21

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The PoderData poll conducted from June 19 to 21 shows that 55% of Brazilians oppose the privatization of Petrobras, the largest oil company in Latin America with headquarters in Rio de Janeiro. The rate was above the margin of error of 2 points compared to the April 24-26 round, when half (50%) were against the sale.

28% favored privatizing the company, up from 33% in the last poll. Another 17% could not give an answer. The gap between the groups grew by 10% since April, when the average price of gasoline at refineries rose by R$0.80, according to Petrobras data.

This round breaks the upward trend of privatization supporters since the first time PoderData asked its respondents this question in August 2017. At that time, 58% opposed the sale, while 22% were in favor.

According to ANP, the price of gasoline reached R$8.99 before the readjustment.

PoderData had registered swings in favor of privatizing the company from the end of March to the end of April – a minority supported the sale, but there were signs of growth. This has now reversed. An even larger portion of public opinion favors state control.

This result coincides with another found in the last PowerData round: 42% blame Bolsonaro for inflation, while only 2% blame Petrobras. The two are a strong indication that it does the president no good to continue ideologizing the issue.

The survey was conducted through calls to mobile and landline phones. 3,000 interviews were conducted in 302 cities in the 27 states of the federation. The margin of error is two percentage points. The confidence interval is 95%. The registration of the survey with the TSE is BR-07003/2022.

To reach 3,000 interviews that proportionally fill out groups by gender, age, income, education, and geographic location, PoderData makes tens of thousands of calls. Often more than 100,000 calls are made until respondents are found that faithfully represent the total population.

GOVERNMENT APPROVAL X PRIVATIZATION

More than half (51%) of those who support the mandate of President Jair Bolsonaro believe that Petrobras should be sold. Among those who disagree with the conservative government, this percentage drops to 15%.

Another 41% who were positive about the government prefer that the country continue to control the state-owned company, while 9% could not give an answer.

Of those who disapprove of the government, 65% want Brazil to retain its majority stake in the company, and 19% do not know.

STRATIFICATION

By region – those living in the South (37%) are most in favor of privatizing the state-owned company, while 68% of those in the North are opposed;

By income – for 56% of those earning up to 2 minimum wages, the state should continue to own Petrobras.