Is Petrobras Really Guilty for the Rise in Fuel Prices? IPESPE Survey Asked People Who Have Already Given Their Verdict

Survey Conducted by IPESPE on Electoral Preferences Also Evaluated Voter Opinions on Responsibility for the Increase in Fuel Prices

Last Friday (20th), the Institute of Social, Political and Economic Research (IPESPE) released a report on the latest survey conducted regarding voting intentions in 2022 and also on responsibility for the increase in fuel prices. Surprisingly, most respondents considered Petrobras to be the most responsible.

The respondents were asked to assign a lot, a little, or no responsibility for the increase in fuel prices to Petrobras, President Jair Bolsonaro from the federal government, state governors, the ongoing war in Ukraine, previous governments of Dilma and Lula, and the Supreme Federal Court (STF). The survey, registered with the Electoral Justice under number BR-08011/2022, was conducted with a random sample of 1,000 people, interviewed by phone between May 16 and 18.

Find Out the Impact of the New Fuel Price Adjustment on Brazil in the Video Below

In Addition to Petrobras, Participants Considered Others Responsible for the Increase in Fuel Prices Such as Bolsonaro, Lula, and Dilma, the War in Ukraine, and State Governors

Data collected by the IPESPE survey indicate that 64% of participants considered Petrobras to be very responsible for the increase in fuel prices, while Jair Bolsonaro’s rate was 45% and the Ukraine War’s rate was 40%, according to the graph below obtained from CNN Brasil. Another 24% also considered Petrobras to have less responsibility. Only 7% considered the state-owned company to have no responsibility.

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A good portion of the participants also attributed significant responsibility to state governors, at a rate of 40%, to previous governments of Lula and Dilma, at 37%, and to the Supreme Federal Court (STF), at 32%, according to the graph below. Note that 31% also considered the governors somewhat responsible for the increase in fuel prices and 23% the previous governments.

The survey was conducted with rigorous statistical criteria and has a confidence interval of 95%, according to calculations, in addition to a margin of error of 3.2 points. This means that if 100 surveys of this same type were conducted with different random samples in Brazil, at least 95 of them would have a very similar result to the findings of this one, within the margin of error.

Price Adjustments for Fuel Had Consecutive Increases in 2022 and 2021

The beginning of 2022 was marked by consecutive increases in fuel prices announced by Petrobras. The first adjustment occurred on January 12, when gasoline rose by 4.9% and diesel by 8.1%. In March 2022, after holding prices for 2 months, the company announced an 18.8% increase in gasoline prices and a 24.9% increase for diesel fuel.

In the second week of May, another adjustment was announced with increases of 2.48% in gasoline prices, 8.44% in ethanol, 4.74% in diesel fuel, and 0.24% in vehicular gas, according to data from the IPCA (National Index of Consumer Prices) from IBGE. Counting from March 2021, Petrobras has already made 14 adjustments to gasoline prices and 12 to diesel prices.

However, many factors may be involved in this price increase, including the conflict between Ukraine and Russia that shook the entire global fuel scenario, raising prices even in the United States. As we know, Russia is a large producer and exporter of oil and its derivatives, and the economic sanctions it has faced may affect all other countries.