Petrobras Lowers Fuel Prices to Stunt Import Competition
- Company trying to protect market share against fuel imports
- Move increases bets that central bank will cut rates next week
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Brazil’s state-controlled oil company Petrobras cut the price of gasoline and diesel as part of a new policy designed to protect market share while avoiding costly subsidies that drained its profits in recent years.
Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as the Rio de Janeiro-based company is formally known, announced Friday that gasoline prices will fall by 3.2 percent while diesel will drop by 2.7 percent at refineries effective Saturday. At fuel stations, fuels may become 1.4 percent and 1.8 percent cheaper, respectively.