Lula Urges Petrobras to Drop Gasoline Brokers

Brazil’s state-run oil producer Petrobras ought to eliminate intermediaries and promote on to customers with the intention to decrease gasoline costs, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva stated Monday.

The President’s reputation hit an all-time low this month as his administration grew to become embroiled in crises and Brazilians grew pissed off with rising costs.

Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as the corporate is formally recognized, is continually underneath authorities stress to protect customers from volatility within the oil markets, whereas non-public buyers concern the corporate would sacrifice income to subsidize politically delicate motor fuels because it has completed previously.

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Final month, Petrobras raised diesel costs for the primary time since October 2023 to cut back a spot with worldwide markets. The 79-year-old leftist chief blamed gasoline stations and state taxes for charging a lot greater costs in comparison with Petrobras’s on the refinery gate.

“In the long run, the individuals are robbed by the middleman and the celebrity goes to the federal government,” Lula stated in a ceremony to announce Petrobras plans to extend its fleet of vessels, serving to to revive Brazil’s shipbuilding business.

Petrobras started direct gross sales of diesel to giant customers in 2024, creating gross sales hubs within the Southeastern states of Minas Gerais and Sao Paulo. The corporate will provide iron ore producer Vale SA’s fleet of vehicles, trains and vessels with R5 diesel, with 5 % renewable content material.

The Rio de Janeiro-based agency introduced Monday it’s ordering eight new LPG vessels and contemplating revamping outdated oil platforms that in any other case can be dismantled. Petrobras will spend 23 billion reais ($4 billion) in whole so as to add 44 new vessels to its fleet, as a part of a wider effort to broaden industrial exercise in Latin America’s largest financial system.