Rio De Janeiro — Brazilian state-run oil firm Petrobras has been able to provide Brazilians with price stability despite market volatility caused by an escalation of the conflict in Middle East, its top executive said on Thursday.
In an interview with Reuters, CEO Magda Chambriard said Petrobras’ commercial strategy allows it “to offer competitive prices compared to other supply alternatives and mitigate international market volatility.”
Brent crude futures, one of the variables monitored by Petrobras to define its fuel prices to distributors, surged 5% on Thursday to $77.62 per barrel, as concerns mounted that a widening regional conflict in the Middle East could disrupt global crude flows.
Chambriard said Petrobras has been monitoring recent events in the oil market, but cautioned that the firm couldn’t unveil decisions on its pricing in advance due to competitive factors.
Last year, the firm ditched a more market-based pricing policy in favor of one that gave it more flexibility to smooth out price swings.
Petrobras most recently tweaked its prices in July, when it raised gasoline prices for distributors by about 7%. So far this year, it has not touched diesel prices.
Reporting by Rodrigo Viga Gaier in Rio de Janeiro; Writing by Andre Romani; Editing by Kylie Madry- Reuters
