As oil rises, gap with fuel prices widens in Brazil
With the peak of oil prices in recent days, the gap between prices practiced by Petrobras and the international parity has widened and reached R$1 in the case of a liter of diesel, according to market estimates. The state-owned company has not changed fuel prices at refineries for 49 days and a new adjustment is just a matter of time, as the worsening war in Ukraine puts pressure on the price of the commodity, analysts say.On Wednesday, the Brent barrel, a global benchmark, closed the day up 7.58%, at $112.93 - the highest since 2014. In addition to the escalation of the war in Ukraine and more difficulties for trading companies to buy Russian oil, factors such as the reduction in U.S. inventories and the decision by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to maintain April’s production growth target of 400,000 barrels a day, even in the face of tight supply, contributed to the rise of the commodity prices.According to consultancy Stonex, Petrobras is selling a liter of S-10 diesel with a 30% difference, or R$1.10 a liter, in relation to the import parity price (IPP), while for gasoline the difference is 25%, the equivalent of R$0.80 a liter. The Brazilian Fuel Importers Association (Abicom) complains that Petrobras is systematically holding adjustments and that the windows of opportunity for private-sector trading companies are closed in the country. The entity estimates that the oil company’s lag in relation to international parity reached 25% on Wednesday - the equivalent of R$1.22 for diesel and R$1.10 for gasoline.In the assessment of Stonex’s risk management consultant, Pedro Shinzato, this is "a very intense stress test" for the state-owned fuel policy. He points out that the company has been practicing prices below parity since January and that the difference at the moment is so high that it makes it difficult to fully align with international prices.Mr. Shinzato believes that the oil company will, in view of this, make a partial adjustment, without passing on the entire increase seen in the last weeks. He cites, however, that the company’s lag already creates distortions in the market. Since the end of last year, Petrobras has been competing, especially in the Northeast region, with Mubadala’s Acelen, a company that owns the Mataripe refinery, in Bahia.In a report, Goldman Sachs highlighted that the lag of Petrobras’s prices in relation to the international market is above the levels of 2021, when the state-owned...
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