Gasoline and diesel imports by Petrobras surged in the third quarter of this year: gasoline soared 950% compared to the same period last year, while diesel rose 548.1%. Petrobras says the domestic market explains the growth. Imports are at the center of the clash between Petrobras and a group of distributors. Earlier this month, the state-owned oil company warned its customers that it will not provide part of the orders for November. To meet all the demand at the service stations, distributors will need to import on their own. This increase in imports happened while Petrobras expanded production at its refineries. In October, the utilization factor jumped to 90%. With this significant growth in gasoline and diesel imports, the company’s net exports dropped 49.7% compared to the same period last year. Total exports were 813 thousand barrels per day (down 17.3%) and the imports, of 415 thousand bpd (up 116%). The largest portion imported was diesel (175,000 bpd) and the largest portion exported was oil (604 thousand bpd).
Sources: Agência Estado/Nova Cana (*Translated by Ia Niani)