Bolsonaro says Petrobras privatization is 'on our radar' as fuel prices rise (updated)
25/10/2021 16:34
(Adds comments from senator, updates share price)
By Ricardo Brito and Marta Nogueira
BRASILIA, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Brazilian President Jair
Bolsonaro repeated on Monday that he is considering privatizing
state-run oil company Petrobras and a Senate leader said
studies were already underway regarding the dilution of the
government's share in the firm, news that helped boost the
company's shares over 7%.
"This is on our radar," Bolsonaro said during a radio
interview. "But privatizing a company is not just putting it on
a shelf and whoever offers the highest bid takes it, it is very
complicated."
Later in the day, Fernando Bezerra, the head of the
government in the Senate, told Reuters officials were studying
the possibility of privatizing the company via a share sale.
It is unclear if any bill clearing the way for such a move
will be sent to Congress this year, he said. The government is
more focused at present on the privatization of Correios,
Brazil's federal mail service, Bezerra said.
Bolsonaro had first mentioned a potential privatization of
Petroleo Brasileiro SA - as the company is formally known -
earlier in October, indicating that he was frustrated for being
blamed for fuel price increases. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2RA1B4
Also on Monday, Petrobras announced it would raise diesel
and gasoline prices at the refinery gate starting on Tuesday,
following a spike in international oil prices and a sharp
depreciation of Brazil's currency.
The firm said it will raise gasoline prices by 7% to 3.19
reais ($0.5656) per liter, while diesel prices will rise 9% to
3.34 reais.
"Aligning our prices with international markets is
especially relevant right now, as Petrobras has received
atypical demand (from fuel distributors) for November,"
Petrobras said in a statement. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2RF1T4
Taken together, the privatization chatter and fuel price
hike helped boost Petrobras shares, which were up 7.1% in late
afternoon trade in Sao Paulo, making it the biggest winner on
the benchmark Bovespa equities index .BVSP .
The company has become a hot political topic as energy costs
have driven Brazil's annual inflation into double digits,
hurting Bolsonaro's popularity ahead of next year's election.
($1 = 5.64 reais)
(Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu in Brasilia and Marta
Nogueira in Rio de Janeiro; Writing by Gabriel Araujo and Gram
Slattery
Editing by Paul Simao and Grant McCool)
((Gabriel.Araujo2@thomsonreuters.com; +55 11 5644 7745;))