Gasoline breaks US$1.50 barrier for the first time in Brazil – ANP

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The maximum price of gasoline sold at service stations in Brazil broke the R$8 (US$1.50) barrier for the first time this week, according to data from the National Petroleum Agency (ANP).

The maximum price found this week was R$8.029 in Rio de Janeiro – the highest reached last week was R$7.99. In Minas Gerais, the highest price reached R$7.698.

Paraná comes in third, with a maximum price of R$7.660. In Acre, a liter reached R$7.60. Next comes Bahia, with the highest price in the Northeast, where gasoline can cost as much as R$7.540.

However, the average price of a liter of gasoline sold at service stations in Brazil rose from R$6.664 between January 16 and 22 to R$6.658 this week (between January 23 and 29), down 0.09%.

In the case of diesel, the average value of a liter remained virtually unchanged, from R$5.582 last week to the current R$5.586.

But according to market sources, the trend is for prices to rise.

With the price of oil on the international market above US$88, the gap in fuel prices sold by Petrobras has been increasing.

The Brazilian Association of Fuel Importers (ABICOM) assesses that the state-owned company currently has a gasoline price lag of 9% in relation to the international market, which would lead to a readjustment of R$0.29, on average, per liter at refineries.

Petrobras’ last readjustment occurred on May 12, when the average sale price of gasoline from Petrobras to distributors rose from R$3.09 to R$3.24 per liter, a 4.85% increase. Thus, since January 2021, the price of gasoline has accumulated a 77.04% hike.

For diesel, Petrobras’ average sale price to distributors went up from R$3.34 to R$3.61 per liter. Thus, since January last year, diesel has risen 78.71% at refineries.

According to experts, not even the governors’ initiative, who decided to freeze the ICMS reference value for another 2 months, will be capable of preventing a new rise in prices at pumps.