BRASÍLIA, April 9 — Brazil’s state-run oil company Petrobras is once again in crisis: caught in a political tug of war over rising fuel costs.
Tied to international market movement, fuel prices in Brazil rose 33 per cent in the past year even as the economy recovers from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.“Manipulating tariff policy is like manipulating the law of gravity,” Silva e Luna said after his firing last week. Lula, a former trade unionist and popular ex-leader, is the polled favourite ahead of October’s vote.With the fuel price in both men’s crosshairs, the future of Petrobras — which determines the price of petrol at the pump — depends very much on the outcome of October’s elections.
Silva e Luna’s predecessor, Roberto Castello Branco, was fired by the president a year earlier for similar reasons.Bolsonaro’s pick, economist Adriano Pires, withdrew his name from the race this week due to a possible conflict of interest over his other role as head of an energy consulting firm.