Brasilia, April 8 - Neftegaz.RU. Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro said April 7 that a 32% increase in natural gas prices imposed by state-run oil company Petrobras on distributors was «unacceptable».
Bolsonaro says he will not intervene in pricing but that it is possible to «change the pricing policy», and Joaquim Silva e Luna, who will become the new Petrobras CEO this month, «understands«» that a company needs to have transparent, predictable prices.
The state-owned company announced on Monday that sales prices of natural gas to traders will increase 39% in reais per m3 from May 1 compared to the previous quarter.
In US dollars per million Btu ($ / MMBtu) the increase will be 32%.
It should be noted that in mid-February, Bolsonaro fired Roberto Castello Branco, CEO of Petrobras, for viewing fuel price adjustments as excessive.
General Joaquim Silva e Luna stated for the post, who was released from Itaipu Binacional’s command this Wednesday.
He has yet to be approved by state shareholders for the board of directors in order to be elected president of the company by the college.
Petrobras clarifies that the final price of natural gas to the consumer is determined not only by the company’s sales price, but also by distributor margins (and, in the case of vehicular natural gas, by resale stations) and by federal and state taxes.
In addition, the tariff approval process is carried out by the state regulatory agencies, according to specific legislation and regulations.
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Brazilian president Bolsonaro said a 32% increase in gas prices is «unacceptable»
Bolsonaro's comments echoed his February offensive against Petrobras' fuel pricing that led to the abrupt toppling of the company's management
