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SAO PAULO, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Brazilian state-run oil company Petrobras said on Tuesday it will raise gasoline and diesel prices at its refineries starting Wednesday after what it called an "abrupt" increase in global oil prices.
Petrobras said in a statement on its website it will hike average gasoline prices by 16.3% to 2.93 reais ($0.5893) per liter, while diesel prices will be raised by an average of 25.8% to 3.80 reais per liter.
It is the first price hike by the oil giant since President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has pledged to change the firm's pricing policy in order to help it lower consumer costs at the pump, took office in January.
Petrobras approved a new pricing policy in May, ditching a more market-based strategy in favor of greater flexibility to smooth price swings, but said it had no option other than raising prices this time.
"The consolidation of oil prices at a higher level makes it necessary for Petrobras to make the price adjustments for both fuels," the company said on Tuesday.
Crude oil prices in international markets have registered gains for the past seven weeks.
Chief Executive Jean Paul Prates had previously said that even though the new policy would avoid passing international volatility onto customers, Petrobras' fuel prices would not dip "below profitability." ($1 = 4.9719 reais) (Reporting by Gabriel Araujo; Editing by Kylie Madry)
