Reporting by Marta Nogueira and Paula Arend Laier, Reuters
RIO
EnergiesNet.com 01 05 2023
The incoming chief executive of Brazil’s oil company Petrobras (PETR4.SA) said on Wednesday there will be no interventions in fuel prices, and shares of the state-run firm rose.
Jean Paul Prates, handpicked by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to lead the company, told journalists he does not intend to unlink Petrobras’ fuel prices from those of international markets, but “will unlink them from import parity.”
“Today you are simulating a diesel made in Rotterdam plus freight, plus expenses and putting that price in the refineries that are producing here,” he claimed, arguing this is a distortion that hurts those who produce oil locally.
“So we will simply try to balance this. Without forcing, without imposing a tariff, with absolutely no direct intervention in the market,” Prates explained.
His remarks, which echoed comments he made after his appointment as CEO, boosted Petrobras’ share price, said Reach Capital’s investment head, Ricardo Campos.
Shares in the oil giant were up 3.7% in mid-afternoon trading, after dropping roughly 10% in the first two trading sessions of the year.
“It’s not exactly news, but today the market believed more,” Campos added, pointing out that the move comes even amid a sharp decline in oil prices, with the Brent falling more than 4%.
Reporting by Marta Nogueira and Paula Arend Laier; Writing by Peter Frontini; Editing by David Gregorio
reuters.com 01 05 2023
