Cade’s adviser says that the agreement that forces the state to sell 8 units is in the 4th review
O Where (Administrative Council for Economic Defense) is in the 4th revision of the TCC (term of cessation of conduct) for refining, which obliges Petrobras to sell 8 of its refineries. According to the counselor Gustavo Augusto Freitas de Limathe process should be completed within the next 2 to 3 years.
“What are we renegotiating? It’s basically term. What we are saying is when Petrobras has to do the teaser [etapa de lançamento do processo de alienação], she did. This schedule is what has been much discussed”, he said in an interview with Power 360.
The agreement between Petrobras and Cade was signed in 2019 and emerged from a process that investigated the state-owned company for abuse of a dominant position in the market.
So far, Petrobras has only managed to complete the sale of one refinery: the rlam, now known as the Mataripe refinery, in Bahia. The unit was purchased by the Arab fund mubadala in February, for US$ 1.65 billion.
The 2nd refinery sold by the state-owned company is Reman, in Amazonas, purchased by the Atem group in 2021 for US$ 189.5 million. The transaction is awaiting judgment by CADE’s Tribunal, which has been postponed twice. The last one by a request for a view from Lima.
At the Wednesday session (Aug.17, 2022), the counselor stated that he would like to analyze a proposal for a merger control agreement presented by the Atem and Petrobras group. In addition ANP (National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels) proposed restrictions on the transaction.
In addition to Reman, Petrobras closed deals for SIX (in Paraná) and Lubnor (in Ceará). It is in the binding stage of Regap’s divestment process (in Minas) – when interested parties carry out risk assessments and submit proposals. At the end of June, the state-owned company resumed the process of selling Rnest (in Pernambuco), Repar (in Paraná) and Refap (in Rio Grande do Sul).
“We are today with Reman and the teasers that are on the market [da Rnest, Repar e Refap] who may not make it to trial at Cade now this semester“, said.
fuel price
Cade also investigates Petrobras’ pricing policy. The state-owned company adopts the PPI (import parity price), equating the values practiced in the domestic market with the import price of fuels.
The council opened an administrative inquiry at the beginning of the year to determine “indications of anti-competitive conduct” in fuel production. On July 11, the process was extended for another 2 months.
“We are thinking about the medium and long term, about structures and conducts. Of course, in the end, Cade wants an efficient price. A price that is low enough to be fair to the consumer, but high enough to continue to be supplied”, declared Lima to the Power 360.
According to the counselor, theproblem” of the price policy is that Petrobras’ monopoly in the market makes it difficult to analyze the values practiced in relation to other agents.
“Our concern is that you use the price of oil as a signal to combine a price increase”, he stated. According to Lima, Cade is investigating whether the PPI would be a way of signaling the market to increase prices even before the costs of a rise in the barrel reach the stations.
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