By Brazil Stock Guide – Brazil’s state-controlled oil producer Petrobras (PBR US) will lower the price of natural gas sold to distributors starting Sunday (1), as quarterly contract adjustments reflect global energy benchmarks and currency movements.
The company said the average reduction will be about 7.8% compared with the previous quarter. The adjustment follows contractual formulas that update the price of the gas molecule every three months based on fluctuations in Brent crude, the Brazilian real against the US dollar, and, for some contracts, the Henry Hub benchmark used in the US natural gas market.
At the start of 2026, Petrobras introduced Henry Hub indexation for distributors that chose this pricing option. For the quarter beginning in February 2026, the combined effect of Brent crude prices, Henry Hub movements, exchange rates and the weighted volumes contracted by distributors resulted in the average price cut.
Petrobras said the final price variation will differ among distributors, depending on the mix of products purchased, the volumes actually withdrawn and the application of incentives introduced in 2024. These include performance-based bonuses and demand incentives that can lower prices as off-take volumes increase.
Since December 2022, the average price of the gas molecule sold to distributors has fallen by about 38%, including the latest reduction. The company emphasized that end-user prices are influenced by additional factors such as transportation costs, each distributor’s supply portfolio, commercial margins and federal and state taxes. Consumer tariffs are approved by state-level regulatory agencies.
Petrobras added that the adjustment effective Sunday (1) applies only to pipeline natural gas and does not affect liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), commonly sold in cylinders or in bulk.
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