President Jair Bolsonaro commented today (1st) on the approval of guidelines by the National Energy Policy Council (CNPE) so that ethanol can be sold from power plants directly to gas stations. "The direct sale of ethanol can provide greater competition in the sector and lower the price of fuel at pumps," he wrote in a publication on social networks.

In June, the CNPE passed a resolution that defines guidelines for the marketing, by producer, of hydrous ethanol fuel directly with a retail retailer of automotive fuels and transporter-reseller-retailer (TRR).

Currently, the norm of the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) establishes that all fuel must pass through a distribution company before reaching the pumps at the service stations. On several occasions, Bolsonaro has defended direct selling as a way to reduce fuel prices. The approval of the resolution by the CNPE will allow the ANP to implement the actions for the direct sale of ethanol.

A draft legislative decree to release the sale without intermediaries is also underway in the Chamber of Deputies. It was approved by the Mines and Energy Commission at the end of 2019 and is being analyzed by the Constitution and Justice and Citizenship Commission (CCJ), and then it goes on to vote in plenary.