The Senate approved, this afternoon (10), the Bill (PL) 1.472/2021, which changes the way of calculating the price of fuel, in addition to creating a Stabilization Account. This fund will act as a buffer against fluctuations in the price of oil on the international market. The objective is to reduce the value of fuel at gas stations and avoid constant price fluctuations for the consumer. Now, the project goes to the Chamber.
The PL establishes guidelines for the pricing policy for the sale of fuels and petroleum derivatives. They are: protection of consumer interests; reduction of external vulnerability; encouraging the use of the installed capacity of refineries; reasonable domestic prices; and reduction of domestic price volatility.
The logic of the Stabilization Account will be to save on the low, delaying the fall in prices, to later delay the rise in prices, containing short-term variations. Thus, the priority source of this account will come out of the price variation margin itself.
The text also stipulates that the prices of petroleum-derived fuels practiced in the country have as a reference the average quotations of the international market, the internal costs of production and the costs of importation.
One of the criticisms of the author of the project, Rogério Carvalho (PT-SE), and which motivated its writing, is the current formula for calculating fuel prices, based on the International Price Parity (PPI). Since 2016, Petrobras has adopted the PPI, which links the price of oil to the international market using the Brent barrel price, which is calculated in US dollars, as a reference. Therefore, the international value of oil and the dollar quote directly influence the composition of the company’s prices.
aid
The project also brings an increase in the value of the gas allowance. He reviews the legislation that created the aid, expanding its audience, in 2022, to 11 million families. It would be twice its fulfillment target in relation to the amounts originally approved in the annual budget law.
One of the changes made to the text today by the rapporteur, Jean Paul Prates (PT-RN), was the inclusion of aid for low-income drivers and the expansion of the gas voucher to needy families. The so-called Brazilian Fuel Aid will benefit self-employed drivers, taxi drivers and app motorcyclists with a family income of up to three minimum wages, prioritizing those who receive Auxílio Brasil.
adjournments
This PL has been discussed in the Plenary of the House since the week before Carnival. At the request of the deputy government leader in the Senate, Carlos Viana (MDB-MG), with the support of other colleagues, Senate President Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG) decided to postpone the vote until after the holiday. Yesterday (9), the matter went back to the Plenary, when there was another postponement.
Faced with the impasse and Petrobras’ announcement of raise prices of diesel and gasoline in its refineries, Pacheco asked for the commitment of the peers to deliberation on the topic today, without further extensions. Pacheco told the senators that the announcement of the substantial increase in fuel prices by Petrobras required the Senate to consider this PL and also the Complementary Law Project (PLP) 11/2020 this Thursday. The PLP proposes the simplification of the Tax on the Circulation of Goods and Services (ICMS) on fuels throughout the country, which is being voted on by the plenary.
