BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Thursday that state-run oil company Petrobras should play a greater social role and make less profit, amid rising tension over fuel prices that are stoking inflation and hurting Brazil’s poorest. “It should be a company that makes a profit that isn’t so high as it has been lately,” Bolsonaro said of the company known formally as Petroleo Brasileiro SA during a weekly live broadcast on social media. As Brazil’s main importer and producer of fuel, Petrobras effectively controls domestic prices for diesel and gasoline. Past governments have forced the company to take huge losses in order to keep prices at the pump artificially low. Petrobras has insisted that it will continue to price fuel according to international levels. Bolsonaro said he would seek to alter the company’s fuel pricing policy. “Petrobras is obliged to increase the price because it has to follow the policy and we are trying to find a way to change this rule,” he said. Shortly after Bolsonaro’s comments, Petrobras reported a third-quarter profit of 31 billion reais ($5.5 billion), up from a quarterly loss a year ago, and its board approved an additional payout to shareholders. New York-listed shares of Petrobras fell over 4% in after-market trading on Bolsonaro’s comments, but pared losses after the earnings report. Earlier on Thursday, Brazil’s Justice Ministry said it had asked Petrobras and its logistics unit Transpetro to provide clarification on recent fuel price increases and the possibility of supply shortages. Bolsonaro’s popularity has fallen amid criticism of his handling of the pandemic and surging inflation, with surveys now showing he may lose to leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in next year’s election. As his approval slipped, Bolsonaro’s economic proposals have strayed increasingly from the orthodox policies he touted in his 2018 campaign. Last week he vowed to increase welfare payments in a move that would break a constitutional spending limit. ($1 = 5.6459 reais) Reporting by Ricardo Brito; Writing by Stephen Eisenhammer; Editing by Rosalba O’Brien