The price of Brent crude oil surpassing $100 per barrel on Wednesday, fueled by escalating geopolitical conflict in the Middle East and increased risk to supply routes through the Strait of Hormuz, has revived Brazil’s most intractable economic dilemma: how to manage domestic fuel costs. The surge has pushed the current diesel price at state-controlled Petrobras’ refineries to an estimated 72% below international market levels, according to the Brazilian Association of Fuel Importers (Abicom). Closing this massive gap, which has grown over 312 days without an adjustment, would require Petrobras to raise the domestic diesel price by approximately R$2.34 per liter.