Lula government calls for investigation into fuel prices

The Attorney General's Office, the federal government's legal arm, has called for an investigation into fuel prices after detecting evidence that distributors and resellers are not passing on price reductions made by refineries to consumers.

The request comes after the AGU analyzed information provided by the Special Secretariat for Government Analysis, of the Civil House, and by the National Secretariat for Oil, Natural Gas and Biofuels, of the Ministry of Mines and Energy.

There are signs of anticompetitive practices in the formation of gasoline, diesel and LPG prices in the fuel chain.

The document points out problems in price formation, especially in the North region, related to the Amazonas Refinery.

According to the Ministry of Mines and Energy, only when there was an increase in prices at refineries did distributors and resellers pass on the adjusted value in full.

In cases where there was a price reduction , says the ministry, distributors and resellers reduced their prices by amounts lower than the cuts made by refineries.

The request for investigation was forwarded to the Administrative Council for Economic Defense, the Federal Police, the National Consumer Secretariat and the National Attorney General's Office for Public Assets and Probity, a unit of the AGU linked to the Attorney General's Office.