Petrobras Eases Fears of Fuel Intervention in Policy Shift
- Brazil giant aims to lower impact of international volatility
- Investors applaud new pricing framework, pushing shares higher
Jean Paul Prates, chief executive officer of Petroleo Brasileiro
Photographer Maria Magdalena Arrellaga/Bloomberg
Brazilian oil giant Petrobras is shielding domestic consumers from volatile global fuel-market gyrations, bowing to pressure from President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva who made controlling gasoline costs a key election pledge.
Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as the company is formally known, will base prices on a combination of domestic and foreign factors, “taking into account the best alternative to customers,” it said in a statement on Tuesday. Petrobras wants to avoid passing on international price surges to motorists, and take advantage of the company’s “better production and logistics conditions.”