After four months of downward adjustments in the price of super gasoline in Ecuador, a gallon of this fuel once again crosses the $4 mark.

On the 12th of the month, Petroecuador applies a price adjustment for gasoline that is not subsidized by the state at its gas stations and that serves as a reference.

Super premium 95 gasoline will drop 15 cents from July 12, Petroecuador’s proposed price is $3.77

The National Chamber of Petroleum Products Distributors of Ecuador predicts that starting this Saturday, August 12, 2023, there will be an increase in the price of super gasoline, whose reference value will be $4.20 per gallon. And indeed, Petroecuador announced new proposed benchmark prices on Friday the 11th: super premium 95 at $4.20 per gallon and ecoplús 89 at $3.39.

95 octane gasoline that does not have a subsidy is great its consumption fell in 2022 due to price escalation. In July of that year, a gallon cost $5.20, as it was adjusted to international prices as the country was liberalized.

The price of a gallon of super gasoline goes up to $5.28. You are already paying more than twice as much for this fuel

The benchmark price that will be in effect this Saturday implies a 43-cent increase, as a gallon goes from the recommended $3.77 to $4.20.

Whereas ecoplus, which has 89 octane and is presented on the market as an alternative to super, has increased in price from $2.97 to $3.39. This represents an increase of 42 cents. This fuel, which is more environmentally friendly, is a failed government experiment for the distributors’ union.

One of its members, Oswaldo Erazo, was the one who warned this Friday that “for this Saturday, during the holidays, the state will increase the price of a gallon of super gasoline to more than $4,” which he considers terrible.

Petroecuador reminded that the calculation for price adjustment was made based on the prices of oil and its derivatives on the international market, “aspects that are external and that do not depend directly on the country, nor on the public company”. it is stated in the official announcement.

The drop in super gasoline prices in recent months has affected the higher consumption of this fuel, which, according to the Chamber of Petroleum Products Distributors, accounted for 2.7 percent of the automotive fuel market and only 4.8 percent of the gasoline market until last month.

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Super gasoline consumption fell to 88,773 barrels in April. But there was a recovery in consumption in May, reaching 123,343 barrels, although the recovery of the super market was still far away. In 2011, it had a 13% share, and when the publication of prices began, it was at least 8%.

Those gasolines that have a subsidy, and therefore a lower price, are consumed the most. A gallon of extra and eco-country remains frozen at $2.40, as does diesel at $1.75. Fuel, its price and subsidy were the flag of protests that paralyzed the country in previous years. The last one was in June 2022, which ended with the setting up of dialogue tables between the Government and the indigenous sector, in which general parameters for targeted subsidies were agreed, but which did not result in a concrete plan.

The international market has seen a steady upward trend in recent weeks: the price of a barrel of WTI crude oil – which is the benchmark for Ecuador – exceeded $83 on August 11. A day earlier, the EFE agency indicated that Brent It was higher than 87 USD, and the OPEC barrel was close to 90 USD. Crude oil production from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) fell 3% in July to a total of 27.310 million barrels per day (mbd), 836,000 bd less than in June, according to estimates released by the Vienna-based oil organization.

Figures from OPEC’s monthly report revealed that the sharp drop in production by Saudi Arabia was one of the main factors driving the price of the “black gold” higher in July and continuing to do so this month.