Petrobras announces 5% reduction in price of natural gas

Petrobras announced on Monday (Oct. 10) the price of natural gas sold to fuel distributors will have an average reduction of 5 percent. The new values will be updated on November 1, and they will stay in effect until January 2023. The final price to be paid by consumers is still unknown since other factors influence the market, such as distributor and retailer profit margins and federal and state taxes.

This is the second update announced in 2022 by the state-owned company. In May, there was a 19 percent increase. Since 2016 Petrobras practices the Import Parity Pricing Policy (PPI), which links the prices charged in the country to those charged in the international market, having the price of a brent crude oil barrel as a reference, which is calculated in dollars.

According to a note released by the state-owned company, the price reduction respects contracts agreed upon with distributors. In the last quarter, oil prices fell 11.5 percent and the exchange rate depreciated 6.5 percent, Petrobras informed. The company also said it practices a quarterly update in the price of natural gas to mitigate momentary volatility and alleviate the impact of sudden and punctual oscillations in the foreign market, ensuring greater predictability.

"The contracts are public and disclosed on the website of the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP)," Petrobras note reads.