ANP Revises Diesel Subsidy Formula, Sets U.S. Gulf as Benchmark

Overview

• ANP’s board on Thursday unanimously approved refinements to the reference-price method that staff estimate will add about R$0.20 per liter.
• The new benchmark uses diesel prices from the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and excludes Russian-priced cargoes to avoid a reference many companies cannot match under sanctions or internal rules.
• Companies can now qualify at the same time as producers and importers, a shift designed to widen access to the subsidy.
• The revised calculations apply only to future sales to preserve legal certainty, and a higher reference is expected to raise subsidy payouts and could nudge retail prices.
• Regulators also opened a five-day consultation to set a reference price for liquefied petroleum gas after the government recently extended subsidies to cooking gas.