Lula’s minister defends that Petrobras buys back privatized refineries

Minister Alexandre Silveira, of Mines and Energy, defended this Wednesday (27) that Petrobras repurchase oil refineries that were privatized in recent years, with the claim that Brazil needs to achieve fuel self-sufficiency.

According to him, the state-owned company must carry out studies on the repurchase of refineries following market rules with the aim of no longer depending on imports. Currently, the Brazilian market imports around 25% of the diesel oil and 15% of the gasoline used in the country.

“We are working on several fronts to achieve this, one is to reinforce our public policy interest in Petrobras being quick to modernize its refining parks and evaluating the possibility, including, my opinion is already published, that Petrobras must renegotiate, with the refineries that were privatized, so that within market rules… it can reacquire these refineries”, he said in a record from the Reuters.

The statement was made shortly after the signing ceremony of the concession contracts for the first auction of power transmission lines in 2023, alongside President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT). R$ 15.7 billion in investments are planned in more than 6 thousand kilometers of lines in six states.

The repurchase of refineries and investments in the sector are historic PT flags and have been defended by Lula since the electoral campaign and the government transition. Earlier this month, Silveira cited the Landulpho Alves Refinery (Rlam), in Bahia, as the target of a possible buyback. The unit was the first to be privatized, in November 2021 under the government of Jair Bolsonaro (PL), for US$1.65 billion in values ​​at the time to Mubadala Capital.

In total, Petrobras intended to sell eight units, with the refineries in Minas Gerais (Regap), Paraná (Repar), Rio Grande do Sul (Refap) and Pernambuco (Rnest) still being part of the state-owned company’s assets. In addition to Rlam, the Reman (AM), Lubnor (CE) and SIX (PR) refineries have already been transferred to the private sector.

Still according to Silveira, Brazil is “very close to being” self-sufficient in the supply of diesel oil, and that the restrictions imposed on Russia should not affect the national market. “Petrobras is also a company that matters to guarantee national supply, so we have the greatest peace of mind at the moment,” he said in the filing. G1.

Alexandre Silveira also mentioned that the government is working to avoid a new increase in fuel prices in Brazil due to the rise in oil prices on the international market. According to him, “Petrobras has its pricing policy that does not depend on the government”.

“However, there is clarity from Petrobras that we are working to Brazilianize prices. In other words, not to be dependent on the international market,” he stated.

Oil prices closed Wednesday (27) at the highest value of the year at US$96.55 per barrel due to the drop in fuel stocks in the United States. The decrease in the North American country occurred at a time when Saudi Arabia and Russia extended voluntary cuts in daily oil production.