Brazil's federation of oil workers union FUP is hoping a proposed constitutional amendment will unwind the $1.8bn privatization of the 333,000 b/d Mataripe refinery.
After years of failed legal challenges to Petrobras' sale of downstream assets, FUP says the proposed amendment from congressman Jorge Solla would see refineries, distributors and gas pipelines sold in recent years re-integrated into the state-controlled company.
The supermajority required to pass a constitutional amendment means the proposal from Solla, of the left-leaning Workers' Party (PT), will struggle to survive, although its introduction coincides with a domestic fuel price crisis that could see swift changes in the downstream segment.
Formerly known as the Landulpho Alves refinery (RLAM), Mataripe is the only divestment Petrobras has closed since the 2019 launch of a sales process covering seven other refineries. The refinery located in the northern state of Bahia has been operated by Acelen, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi's Mubadala, since December 2021.
FUP claims Acelen has created a monopoly in Bahia where it dictates market rules without any competition. The company's multiple gasoline and diesel price increases means Bahia has the country's most expensive gasoline, according to FUP coordinator Deyvid Bacelar.
While Petrobras struggles to demonstrate its commitment to the import price parity principle guiding its market-based pricing, Acelen says it has an independent management model and that price adjustments follow the variables of each market.
"Acelen's prices are the result of the application of contracts signed with its clients, which bring an objective and transparent pricing formula that has been discussed at length with the clients themselves and approved by the regulatory agency," the company told Argus.
Petrobras' plans to sell around half of its 2mn b/d of domestic refining capacity — part of a broader strategy to increase competition in the refining segment — initially stalled because of market complications caused by the pandemic. In recent weeks, the company has been under intense pressure from politicians, including Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, urging the firm to not pass on increases resulting from market shocks.
The fuel crisis, happening in the lead-up to October presidential elections, is likely to help presidential frontrunner Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is opposed to Petrobras' refinery sales and market-based pricing. A third four-year term for Lula could see a significant change in direction of the planned opening of the country's refining segment, analysts say.
