A Brazilian federal court has issued an injunction exempting TotalEnergies, Repsol Sinopec, Galp's Petrogal, Shell and Equinor from a tax on crude oil exports, a court document seen by Reuters shows.
The Tuesday decision says a 12% tax enacted about a month ago as oil prices spiked due to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, might be unconstitutional. A definitive ruling is still pending.
In his ruling, the judge said that Brazil's government itself acknowledged that the tax was created to generate revenue, which he said was a "true deviation of purpose."
The exemption could create an issue for the government, as the levy was meant to cover revenue losses from tax cuts on fuels. Brazil's state-run oil firm Petrobras PETR3.SA, the country's biggest oil exporter, is not affected by the ruling.
Criticism over the tax mounted on Wednesday, with oil lobby group IBP saying the tax is a hurdle to new investments in the country and oil majors stressing that Brazil needs fiscal and regulatory "stability."
"This tax is not opportune, especially given the need to demonstrate that Brazil is an attractive destination for long-term investments in the oil and gas sector," IBP head Roberto Ardenghy said on the sidelines of an event on Wednesday.
Brazil's Mines and Energy Ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Earlier on Wednesday, minister Alexandre Silveira defended the tax as an exceptional measure due to the impact of the Middle East conflict on fuel prices in Brazil.
At the same event where IBP and oil majors criticized the tax, Silveira said the firms were making money from the Middle East conflict and can "pay a little bit more" to help the government subsidize fuel.
The tax is a temporary levy designed to last until the end of this year, and is aimed at increasing domestic refining and securing internal supply, the government said at the time of its launch.
(Reuters - Reporting by Fabio Teixeira, Rodrigo Viga Gaier and Marta Nogueira; Editing by Chris Reese, Rod Nickel and Deepa Babington)