Minister defends refinery buyback by Petrobras – 05/18/2023 – Market

The Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, defended the reacquisition of assets by Petrobras and mentioned a possibility of repurchasing the Mataripe refinery, headquartered in the city of São Francisco do Conde (98 km from Salvador) and privatized under the management of former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL).

The statements were given in a press interview in Salvador, where the minister participated this Thursday (18) in a table at the Brazilian Congress of Law and Sustainability.

“Here in Bahia there is this peculiarity, the largest refinery in Bahia was sold to private capital. I, particularly, if it depends on the Minister of Mines and Energy, on your will as a Brazilian citizen, but in love with Bahia, this refinery should go back to being of Petrobras”, he said.

The Mataripe refinery was privatized by Petrobras in December 2021 for BRL 10.1 billion and is currently managed by Acelen, from the Arab fund Mubadala Capital.

Silveira classified the divestment project in Petrobras conducted by the Bolsonaro administration as irresponsible, said that the government will work for the country to become self-sustainable in fuel production again and admitted the possibility of the government to reacquire assets.

“We are going to work to modernize the current refineries and, if possible, even discuss it – and it is something that begins in an embryonic way – we […] reacquire some assets that are fundamental and strategic in the fuel issue”, said the minister.

Petrobras announced, this Tuesday (16), its new fuel price policy, replacing the PPI (import parity price), which defined gasoline and diesel readjustments based on simulations on the cost of importing products.

The new model no longer considers the cost of imports and targets the search for customers and the opportunity cost of selling products, as the president of the state-owned company, Jean Paul Prates, had already indicated. The expectation is that it will help to reduce prices in the country.

Acelen does not follow Petrobras’ pricing policy and informed that it adopts a “transparent methodology, based on an objective formula, approved by the regulatory agency, which ensures predictability and fair prices”.

According to the company, the prices of fuel produced at the Mataripe refinery have been reduced in recent months, following reference markets. Since the beginning of the year, there has been a reduction of 16% in the price of gasoline and 31% in the price of diesel.

“The downward adjustments reflect the company’s pricing policy, which follows technical criteria, taking into account variables such as the cost of oil, the dollar and freight, in line with international market practices,” the company said.

Acelen criticized Petrobras’ new policy for not providing “clear enough information” to ensure predictability of fuel prices and said it considered that the changes “tend to drive away new investors and investments”.

The company defended that CADE (Administrative Council for Economic Defense) monitor price variations and guarantee “isonomic conditions of access to Brazilian oil by private refineries, preserving the sector’s competitiveness and sustainability.”