RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazil's state-run fuel company Petroleo Brasileiro SA could cut gasoline and diesel prices on Monday, according to a newspaper report Sunday, reversing hikes last year meant to help the company make up for years of artificially low prices.
A decrease, reported by the Rio de Janeiro newspaper O Globo without citing a source for its information, would seek to make pump prices reflect the drop in global oil prices and lower demand for fuel in Brazil, which is currently suffering through an economic recession.
The newspaper did not say by how much Petrobras, as the company is known, could cut prices.
A spokeswoman for Petrobras, based in Rio, declined to comment. Petrobras executives in recent weeks have said that a price cut would be possible if market conditions were favorable.