Brazil Court Halts 12% Crude Export Tax for Five Oil Majors

Overview

• A federal court in Rio granted an injunction that stops collection of the 12% tax on crude exports for Shell, Equinor, Petrogal, TotalEnergies and Repsol Sinopec.
• The federal government plans to appeal, and collection for those firms is suspended for now.
• Judge Humberto Sampaio said the measure served a revenue goal rather than a proper export tax, siding with the companies’ claim that the provisional decree misused the tool.
• The tax was introduced in March by a provisional measure that took effect right away and was pitched as a way to blunt fuel costs after oil prices jumped.
• Gerdau’s CEO said fuel suppliers keep seeking price hikes as oil rises and the steelmaker expects to pass higher costs along the chain, while deal activity continued with BTG moving to take control of Banco Digimais, Vale selling $63 million in nickel briquettes to Mitsui with board approval for more, and Oi reporting a R$60.1 million winning bid from Método Telecom for its fixed-line asset unit.