Petrobras has announced its new fuel price policy, in which it unlinks gasoline and diesel readjustments from the values practiced in the international market.
According to the company, the goal is to search for customers and the cost of opportunity, which would reduce expenses for customers. No reference has been fixed yet.
The state-owned company also communicated, shortly afterward, reductions in the prices of gasoline, diesel, and cooking gas, with immediate effect.
The liter of gasoline in the refineries of the state-owned company has dropped 12.6% (R$ 0.40 per liter), and that of diesel, 12.8% (R$ 0.44 per liter). Cooking gas now costs 21.3% less.
The transfer to the consumer still depends on the commercial policies of distributors and service stations.
In a statement, the president of the state company, Jean-Paul Prates, talked about greater flexibility to dispute markets with competitors.
He denied government interference: "There is no intervention in the sense of saying 'set the price like this'". The company's shares rose 2.5%.
Oil and gas specialists recommend caution, as the change leaves the market without parameters and could have negative impacts on importers and on biofuel production.
Translated by Cassy Dias