The Minister of Energy, Fernando Santos Alvite, announces that the quota system has been imposed on 109 of the 1,200 gas stations or service stations operating in the country.

It is about the quota system of the Agency for Regulation and Control of Energy (ARK), which “is intended to avoid misuse and diversion of fuel”, says the minister.

Santos explains that this year there has been an increase in diesel consumption: it reaches 12%, while the economy only does so at 2%. In this sense, he sees an inconsistency and that’s why he acted like that.

The minister goes further and says that there is a notorious deviation in the use of fuel. According to a decree issued by President Guillermo Lasso, shrimp farmers with more than 500 hectares must buy diesel in deposits and pay the international price. However, there are those who have stopped purchasing it in warehouses of trading companies. And on the other hand, there is an increase in the sale of diesel at petrol stations on the coast, which can only sell cars. Santos clarifies that this is not a common practice among all large shrimp vessels and that there are many others that follow it.

It also indicates that in the Amazon, in areas where there is illegal mining, there has been an unusual increase in sales at gas stations. In this sense, he says that, in order to avoid these distortions, the quota is set only for gas stations that report an unusual increase in sales without a clear explanation. What they sold before the increase was set as a quota.

A few days ago, on July 21, the Agency for Regulation and Control of Energy reported that in the parish of Cumbaratza Zamora Chinchipe, with the support of the armed forces, a vehicle carrying two baskets with 500 gallons of diesel, intended for illegal mining activities in the canton of Centinela del Cóndor, was stopped.

The question of imposing quotas was rejected by the Chamber of Distributors of Derivatives of Ecuador, which condemned it as an anti-technical measure, because it creates distortions in the market and affects healthy competition. In addition, they ensure that the diversion problem does not occur at the fuel distributor, but at the power utility sector that would supply that diesel to the industrial sector. For the Chamber, the increase of 12 percent that the minister is talking about is global; but if you look by category, you can see that the increase in diesel consumption 2 for the electricity sector was 537%, while the increase in diesel consumption was 302%.

As for the power sector, the minister claims that this increase is the result of the drought at the beginning of the year, when the thermal power plant was supposed to be put into operation. But he says that Celec will do a thorough analysis to see if there are any discrepancies.

In the meantime, gas stations warned the minister in a letter that they are not responsible for a possible fuel shortage. On Monday, the first symptoms of diesel shortage appeared at some gas stations. The union reported that quotas were established at certain gas stations in Manabí and Napo.

For this Wednesday, July 26, a meeting organized by the Chamber of Distributors of Derivatives of Ecuador is scheduled in the Carondelet Palace, where the Government is asked to solve the problem of its very low marketing margin, which was frozen 20 years ago. They will also protest about the issue of quotas.