Brazil’s National Agency of Petroleum, natural gas and Biofuels (ANP) said on Tuesday that it had imposed more than R$700 million in penalties on fuel distributors in cases involving allegedly abusive price increases.
Investigations carried out while two provisional measures were in effect found increases described by the agency as “unjustified” of up to 4,000% in the margin between the cost of acquiring fuel and its sale price. The ANP did not identify the companies fined. Distributors found liable at first instance collectively account for more than 45% of the total volume of fuel handled in Brazil’s market in 2026.
The agency said it can no longer penalize businesses specifically for abusive pricing following the expiry of the provisional measures that authorized it to do so. After a preliminary review of invoices, remaining cases will be referred to the National Consumer Secretariat (Senacon) and partner state and municipal consumer protection agencies, known as Procons.
The ANP also said its board approved last week the referral of 11 administrative sanctioning proceedings involving ten fuel distributors to Brazil’s competition authority, Cade. The cases concern alleged excessive price increases and will allow Cade to assess whether the conduct may have breached competition rules.
The ANP stressed that referring the cases does not mean it has established violations of economic law. It said evidence gathered during its inspections may instead support Cade’s review, which falls within the competition authority’s remit.
Sources: Folha Mercado.