Petrobras Board approves return of cooking gas distribution

Petrobras reported on Thursday night, the 7th, that the state-owned company's board of directors approved the return to the business of distributing liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), popularly known as cooking gas or gas cylinders.

The company had abandoned the sector during the Jair Bolsonaro administration (2019-2022). In 2020, the company sold Liquigás to two private groups: Copagaz – Distribuidora de Gás SA and Nacional Gás Butano Distribuidora.

In Thursday's statement, the company did not detail how it would return to the gas distribution market, for example, whether it would be through direct sales of gas cylinders to residential consumers.

The strategic decision comes at a time when the government, the state-owned company's main shareholder and controller, has expressed concern about the price of gas cylinders.

At the end of May, during the inauguration of the São Francisco River transposition project, in Cachoeira dos Índios, in the Paraíba hinterland, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) expressed his dissatisfaction with the price of gas cylinders that were delivered to families.

"Petrobras sends cooking gas for 37 reais. When will it get here? One hundred and ten reais, 120 reais, it's been 140 reais. And I can tell you that's wrong. You can't pay R$140 for something that costs R$37 from Petrobras. Sure, there's a transportation cost, but you don't need to pay that much," he complained at the time.

Privatization in 2020

In the previous government, when it decided to privatize Liquigás, the then president of Petrobras, Roberto Castello Branco, argued that the state-owned company was giving up operations in certain areas to focus on reducing debt and exploring and producing oil and gas in deep and ultra-deep waters.

At the time, Liquigás had a presence in every state, 23 operating centers, and a network of approximately 4,800 authorized resellers. The Petrobras subsidiary held a 21.4% market share, meaning that for every five gas cylinders sold, one was from Liquigás.

Federation of oil workers supports

In a statement released on the morning of Friday 8, the Single Federation of Oil Workers (FUP), which represents workers in the sector, expressed support for the board of directors' decision.

"It represents a victory for workers and a rallying cry for the FUP," the organization notes. The FUP maintains that price reductions at Petrobras refineries are not fully passed on by distributors to the end consumer.

Gasoline

Direct sales of gasoline, i.e., at gas station pumps, were not mentioned in the board of directors' decision. Also under the previous administration, the state-owned company decided to sell BR Distribuidora to Vibra Energia SA ─ also with the justification of optimizing the company's portfolio and improving capital allocation.

The sale included a license for the buyer to maintain the BR brand until June 28, 2029. In other words, despite displaying the BR brand, the stations throughout the country are not owned by the company, which also signed a non-compete agreement (in business jargon), preventing the company from competing with Vibra. Petrobras is merely a fuel supplier.

In January 2024, however, Petrobras informed Vibra that it had no interest in renewing the license to use the brand after 2029. “The non-renewal of the license will allow for the eventual evaluation of new brand management strategies and business opportunities for Petrobras,” the state-owned company explained.

In May, the oil company's president, Magda Chambriard, lamented the fact that Petrobras no longer sells directly at the pumps and lamented seeing BR-branded stations selling fuel at prices higher than she considered fair.

“We are concerned, yes, about having our brand publicized and spread throughout Brazil, selling gasoline above the price, incorporating margin,” he declared.

Profit and dividends

The board's decision to resume cooking gas distribution came on the same day that Petrobras announced its second-quarter 2025 financial results. The company reported a net profit of R$26.7 billion. This is 24.3% lower than the previous quarter, but higher than the same period in 2024, when the company posted a loss of R$2.6 billion.

The company also announced the distribution of R$8.66 billion in dividends and Interest on Equity (JCP) to shareholders. Both dividends and JCP are ways for a company to share part of its profits with shareholders.

In the case of Petrobras, the federal government should receive approximately 29% of the proceeds, as it holds that proportion of the shares. Another 8% goes to the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES), the federal government's public development bank.